


Aca-moms

by ME_89



Series: Aca-family [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-08-23 09:33:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 30,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8322823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ME_89/pseuds/ME_89
Summary: It is set about seven years after they left Barden. Beca and Chloe have lost all contact. Beca is a single mom and music producer who moves to Atlanta. Here she will work with Emily who has become a succesful artist. Her son goes to a kindergarten, where Chloe turns out to be his teacher...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, So this is my very first fic. It will be multiple chapters (Yes, I'm feeling brave ;) ) I have already written some of them, but may change things based on your feedback. I suck at titles and summaries, so please give my fic a chance ;) I will try to update at least once a week.

Beca swears at herself when she rushes out onto the street and hails a cab. She had been so busy that she had forgotten the time and was now very late to pick up her son David. The kindergarten had even called the studio. She gives the driver the address of the school and sits back. Her first day at work at the Atlanta studio had hit her in the face like a freight train.

She had welcomed the switch from the New York office to their branch in Atlanta as a great opportunity. This studio was much smaller. The artists that usually worked at this location were some of the more established ones, most of them recording their albums in a more relaxed fashion. There would be more space for her to use her own creativity and she would also have more time for her son. It seemed like a great chance for her.

But now she understood why her bosses had been so happy she had accepted. The place was a downright mess, the previous executive producer clearly had no idea on how to lead a studio. She was confident that she could get this studio running smoothly, but for now they still felt the need to consult her on every decision that had to be made. She had been surprised that they all managed to get their lunch orders in without her help.

In a mere four weeks it had been decided that Beca and her son David would move to Atlanta. The studio had been a great support. They had arranged everything that had to do with the move and payed for most of it too. While Beca was busy finishing off her projects in the New York studio, they had selected a few apartments that would be suitable and she had picked the one that appealed most to her. They even had helped in picking a kindergarten for David. They had made a selection of a few well recommended ones and Beca had opted for one that had an extensive music program. David had always liked music and she sings with him all the time, so it seemed like a good fit. Some assistants had then arranged everything, she had not even been to the school before and here she was, making a great first impression…

When the cab drops her off, Beca rushes inside. Quickly she finds the right classroom, as it is the only one with the door open and the lights on. The moment she steps through the door, she suddenly halts and her heart stops for a second. Across the room she sees her son and a beautiful redheaded woman kneeling next to him.

‘Her son … with _her_ Chloe’ she thinks for a second and then her mind starts racing. Her brain fills will all these incoherent thoughts, on how she had missed the other girl, how things used to be, that Chloe didn’t even know she had a son, all things that were left unsaid, all things she would like to say, what Chloe would think of her as a mother for forgetting to pick up her own child, how she had probably hurt the other girl. For minutes she just stands there in silence.

“Mommy!” The silence is broken as little David notices his mother and rushes over to her. “Come mommy, you have to meet Ms Beale. She’s my teacher and she’s the best!” Beca looks down on her boy and smiles. “So I guess you liked your first day at school then?” She asks, as she is being dragged across the room. He just beams up at her with a giant smile and nods. Chloe awkwardly holds out her hand and Beca decides it’s probably best just to shake it. The boy, completely unaware of the unease between the women, looks up at them and continues to babble on: “Ms Beale can sing really well, just like you mom. Ms Beale, my mom can also sing very well, we always sing at home.” “Is that so?”, Chloe asks pulling up her eyebrows as she grins at Beca. “Yep” nods the boy, clearly proud of his mom. Beca breaks the eye contact as she ruffles her boy’s hair.

At that moment a man pokes his head around the door. “Ah, Ms Mitchell, I see you’ve made it. I would like to remind you that all parents should pick up their children at 3.30 sharp. We do not run an afterschool program.” “Won’t happen again”, Beca answers. “Ms Beale, we are waiting for you to start the staff meeting.” “Yeah, I’m coming” she replies and follows after the man. On the doorstep she turns around and looks at her friend. “So I’ll guess I’ll see you around then?” “Yeah”, Beca replies with a sheepish grin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca and Chloe meet up for coffee..

Chloe had a hard time concentrating during the staff meeting. All she could think about was seeing Beca again. Her college friend and former Bella co-captain, the girl who had been a major part of her life for four years, who apparently had a son... Her mind kept wandering back to the girl, wondering what else she had missed in those seven years.

When she returns to her classroom, her eye is immediately caught by the note in the middle of the desk. ‘Hi awesome nerd, it was great seeing you again. I’d love to catch up. Coffee?’ Chloe grins as she picks up the note and puts the number into her phone. The note she places in her diary, finishes packing up and heads home.

When Chloe gets home, she pulls out her phone to send Beca a message, but she puts it back down again on the counter and decides to cook dinner first. During the cooking she keeps glancing at back at her phone, in her head going over the message to send to Beca. When she had finished eating, she picked the phone up again, typing and re-typing the message several times and putting the phone down again. ‘Come on Beale’, she thinks to herself ‘this is not some random person you met at a bar, this is Beca. It doesn’t really matter. She knows you and wants to get back in touch’. Finally she is happy with what she came up with and presses ‘send’.

Beca had been frantically checking her phone since she got home, hoping that Chloe would be open to her proposal. She was desperate for a chance to explain herself and apologize. And somewhere she hoped that someday Chloe and her could begin to be friends again…

Her stomach did a small summersault as she heard her phone buzz and she leaps over to the counter to find that she had indeed a new message from Chloe.

X-XXX-XXX-XXX 7:35 PM Hi Beca, I would love to catch up too. I guess we have a lot to talk about :D ;) X Chloe

Beca 7:36 PM Great! I just met this teenager in my building who’s willing to babysit. I can see if she’s free this Saturday, if that’s alright with you? B

Chloe 7:38 PM Saturday is fine by me! Let me know if you can make it :)

Beca 7:40 PM Will do. Goodnight Chloe!

Chloe puts away her phone. She prepares some lessons for the next day and goes to bed early. The next morning she wakes up and as she is making breakfast, her phone alerts her that she has received a new message.

Beca 7:35 AM Babysitter is taken care of. Saturday is on. Since I’m new to this town, can you recommend any good spots?

Chloe responds with a suggestion for a location and they agree to meet there at 11.00 AM that Saturday. For both women the week cannot be over soon enough, both curious as to how the other person is.

The brunette is already there as Chloe arrives. This time she is dressed more casually with a plaid shirt and leather bracelets, the look that Chloe always loved on her. When Chloe enters the café, Beca hesitantly gets up from her chair, not sure how to greet the other girl, but Chloe pulls her friend into one of her signature bone crushing hugs. Beca walks over to the counter to get them some coffee and returns with two large cups and a plate with one brownie and two forks.

“I hope you still drink your coffee the same way, and that you haven’t lost your love for chocolate”, she says as she places them on the table.

Chloe’s blue eyes light up and a smile splits her face. “Beca, you’re the best!”

“Well, ehmm, so how have you been?” Beca starts as sits down.

Chloe starts telling all about how she decided to become a kindergarten teacher after she had spent a year teaching music to children in an afterschool program. She had first taught at a regular school, but then she had gotten the opportunity to start working at this musical pre-school. “… and now I combine my love for children with my love of music, by teaching children all about music. One of which is apparently yours…”, she finishes looking at Beca expectantly.

“Well yeah, I guess you never expected that”, Beca smirks, unsure whether this is the topic she would like to discuss first.

But clearly it is the topic at the front of Chloe’s mind, since she continues by asking: “Is he Jesse’s?”

“Yeah, he is… Sort of… He doesn’t know…”

“Jesse?” Chloe asks.

“No, Jesse knows, but David doesn’t. It’s a long and complicated story, but the summary is that I found out that I was pregnant after we broke up and we had just decided to move to opposite sides of the world for our careers. So we decided that David would be better off with me.” Beca explains.

Her friend looks at her in amazement. “So you have been a single mom for the last four years and still managed to have a music career?!”

“I was lucky enough to find a great nanny that helped me through the first years. And I had already completed some successful projects, so the label was eager enough to keep me, I guess. But I still had to work late a lot and sometimes I was required to travel with the artists, so it wasn’t ideal. Then they proposed that I would lead the Atlanta branch, which is much smaller and relaxed than the New York office. The idea was that I would also get more freedom, both creatively and to spend time with David. So far it has been a mad house, but I hope that is just because it’s my first week here…” Beca concludes.

“And you, do you have kids?” Beca asks, steering the conversation back to Chloe.

“Yeah, a whole bunch, 28 of them to be precise”, Chloe jokes. “But other than that, no, I haven’t found someone to settle down and start a family with yet...”

At that moment Beca’s phone starts to ring. Checking the screen she excuses herself:  “I have to get this, it’s the sitter”. Chloe watches Beca and sees a concerned expression start to form on her face.

When she gets back, Beca announces that she has to leave: “David had hurt himself and gotten pretty upset. The sitter had tried to comfort him, but somehow things have escalated… I guess I better go and check things out. I’m sorry Chloe, I was really having a good time, but…”

“No problem”, Chloe nods “of course. We’ll do this again sometime soon”.

Beca smiles and leaves the older girl behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this may seem a little weird? But just bear with me, please?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Beca and Chloe start to reconnect and Beca pours her heart out (well, not all of it.. ;) )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here's another chapter. I had planned to put something out on sunday, but suddenly I was very unhappy with the third chapter, so I wrote a new one. 
> 
> (Yes, I know we're going slow, but I promise we're getting somewhere. Eventually? ;) )

Later that night Beca called to give Chloe an update. It turned out that David wasn’t badly hurt at all, he had just freaked out as the babysitter had tried to pull him into her lap and comfort him. He had kicked and screamed and at one point even bitten the poor girl in the arm. Then he had hidden himself in his room and refused to come out until the sitter had left and Beca had been talking softly to him from outside his door to calm him down.

“He just doesn’t like it when people he barely knows get into his personal space”, Beca had said “I suppose he gets that from me. He’s fine now, but I will have to look for another sitter. I probably should have taken more time to find someone he’s really comfortable with. I guess we have to postpone our next coffee meeting for the time being…”

“It’s fine, Beca. I get it. The move, a change of schools, a completely new environment, It’s a lot to take in for such a little man. The two of you just need to take your time to get settled in. I’ll see you around and we’ll keep in touch.. And in time we’ll find a new opportunity to meet.” Chloe had reassured her.

Chloe could totally understand the position the younger girl was currently in, but she still felt a bit disappointed. Their first meeting had left many of her questions unanswered, and to be honest, she probably had more questions now than she had to begin with.

Beca and Chloe had seen each other around school, but their interactions had been limited with all the other parents around. They had however exchanged many texts, sharing their workdays. Chloe telling anecdotes from school and Beca letting off steam from the stress she still experienced trying to run the studio her way. The brunette had also been very active sending Chloe pictures of things she thought Chloe would find cute – solely for the redheads entertainment, she claimed, after all these years still trying to keep up her badass persona.- Chloe was happy because she felt that her friend was letting her back in, but she was still eager to have a heart-to-heart with her.

 

As school finishes that Thursday, Chloe finds another message from Beca.

Beca 3:34 PM Hi Chloe, I’m so sorry to do this again, but I’m running late again. Major crisis, I’ll tell you about it later, but can David stay with you a little longer?

Chloe 3:38 PM Sure, I don’t have any meetings this afternoon. ;) I have to rearrange some stuff in my classroom anyway.

Beca 3:40 PM You’re the best. I’ll be there in 20.

When Beca arrives at the kindergarten, Chloe and David are already waiting for her outside on the swing set. “I’ve been thinking about a way to make this up to you, Chloe, and I have decided that you will be coming home with us for dinner. If you want to, of course…” Beca announces.

“I’d love to.”

“Great. I don’t really feel like cooking though, so I say we order some takeout.”

“Okay, I’ll just meet you at your place then?” Chloe asks gesturing towards her car.

Beca nods and gives her the address.

 

Chloe is surprised when she enters the apartment. It is spacious and the interior is simple but tasteful. When she walks into the living room, she finds a grand piano and a selection of guitars as well as a giant record collection. Going around the room she spots a picture of their performance at Worlds in their senior year and smiles.

“Mommy, why is Ms Beale in our house?” David asks, when he emerges from his room.

“I’m going to treat her to pizza, because I have something to make up to her. Also, did you know that she was one of the Bellas, like Emily, Stacie, and mommy? Come on, I’ll show you” Beca says as she leads David to where Chloe is standing.

Both women kneel beside the boy to show him the picture. “Look, this is mommy” Beca points out “and this is Stacie, Emily and this, over here, that’s Chloe.”

“Who’s Chloe?” David gives her a confused look.

“Ms Beale”

“Oh”

“Why don’t you show her your room while I order the pizzas?” Beca suggests.

“I would very much like to see your room, David.” Chloe chips in.

David nods and beckons for Chloe to follow him. After a thorough examination of his entire toy collection and a summary of every book on his shelves, David decides to keep Chloe entertained by showing her the rest of the apartment. He even wants to go downstairs to show Chloe the in-house pool, but Beca won’t let him. “But mo-hom, the pool is like the best thing..” he argues, but Beca is saved by the bell as the delivery guy shows up with the pizzas.

During dinner Beca fills Chloe in on the events of that day that had caused her to be late. Some artist that had recently signed with the label had insisted that his friends would collaborate on some tracks, but they were so bad that no amount of auto tune could ever fix it. When she had told him that, he had thrown a tantrum that, according to Beca was worse than Chloe had probably ever experienced with her four year olds. Chloe begs to differ and they start a competition of the most ridiculous anecdotes from their respective fields of work. Chloe seemed to be winning the competition, but to Beca’s surprise not with stories about the kids, but about the parents. They laugh throughout the entire dinner, but the brunette noticed how quiet her son is and worriedly glances at him. She is however met with a smile stretched from ear to ear and two sparkling eyes and suddenly she feels so happy.

While Beca puts David to bed, Chloe has a moment to herself. She’s happy to be here. The fact that Beca had invited her into her home means more to her than all the girl could have told her over a coffee. She had let her into her little private world and Chloe loved seeing Beca as a mother. The woman she had seen outside that, however, had reminded her more of the alt girl she met at the activities fare rather than the girl that was at her side winning Worlds. Chloe was worried, but determined to break down these walls once again, and this time she was never letting go again. She knew that her heart had not been broken when Beca had stopped calling her, truth was, her heart had been broken earlier when they had separated, and Beca had taken a little piece of her heart with her, a little piece called home.

Chloe was awoken from her thought when Beca began to speak: “He’s really fond of you, you know. It’s funny, he never warms up to strangers that quickly.”

“Must be his weak Mitchell genes…” Chloe jokes.

Beca picks up a cushion and throws it at the other girl, hitting her in the chest. They fool around for a little until Beca places herself at the armrest of the couch on the side opposite Chloe.

“I’ve missed this, Chlo, I need us. I really want us to be friends again… I’m so sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you. I had no right to sacrifice our friendship like that…I don’t deserve you, Chloe”

 

“Whoa, Whoa, hold it.” Chloe interrupts Beca’s rambling “I don’t want you to talk like that. I’m so glad we’ve met again. I need you too… Yes, you’ve hurt me pretty bad, but I haven’t been a very good friend either. But I want to put it all behind us now, we can get through this. I want us to be friends again too.”

“I know there is no way to justify what I did, but I want to explain. I was so desperate to save my relationship with Jesse… He always complained that I never told him anything.. And I guess it was true.. If something happened at work, good or bad, I’d always call you on my way home, we would talk things over.. and when I got home Jesse always got the Cliffs Notes version.. He sometimes blamed you for that, and I think I let him get to me. That’s why I stopped calling… I wanted him to be the one I talked to, so I called you less and less, until I stopped completely. It didn’t work, I just started to bottle everything up again… Jesse and I still grew apart eventually and I… I had lost you… I should have realized that you were always more important to me..”

Chloe’s heart skips a beat at that confession and Beca breaks into uncontrolled sobbing. Not sure whether she should invades Beca’s personal space at his vulnerable moment, Chloe resorts to rubbing soothing circles on the brunettes back. Soon she feels Beca’s head pressing into her shoulder and she wraps her other arm around the girl, pulling her into an embrace. They sit like that for a while until Beca calms down.

“Thanks, Chloe”

“It’s okay.”

Chloe is the one to break the silence: “Hey Becs, we’re going to be fine. Thank you for opening up to me. I know there is much more to talk about, but let’s do that at our own pace. I think this was enough for one night. Just don’t shut me out again.”

“So, does this mean you want to become friends again?” Beca asks hesitantly.

“No..” Chloe shakes her head and Beca’s heart drops. But Chloe continues with a grin: “It means we are friends.”

“Weirdo”

Shortly after Chloe announces she has to leave, because it’s getting late and there is a busy day ahead with a full day of teaching and the school concert. Beca agrees and says she should go to bed too. They say goodbye with a hug as Beca walks Chloe to the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said I had quite some trouble with this chapter. Eventually these two songs by 'The common linnets' pulled me through: 
> 
> 'Broken but Home' and 'Before complete surrender'
> 
> You can check them out on YT if you want.
> 
> Also I loved everyone's comments :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First school concert of the year, Beca meets some other parents.

Beca was one of the first parents to arrive at the auditorium. The kids had stayed at school to prepare for their concert, so Beca had eaten something at the studio and gone straight to the school. Not feeling like talking to the other parents much she decided to take a seat. When Chloe takes a quick peek through the curtains Beca catches her eye and gives her a thumbs up and a cheesy grin. The ginger smiles back at her and takes a moment to admire the brunette. Of course Beca, couldn’t care less about the other parents and had shown up in a bright red and black plaid shirt, skinny jeans and biker boots, Chloe observed.

More and more parents start to pour in and as a couple takes a seat next to Beca, the woman begins to chat with her.

"Hi, you must be the mom of the new kid. I'm Alice and this is my husband Parker."

"Yes, I'm David's mom. My name is Beca. Nice to meet you" Beca replies politely.

"Nice to meet you too Beca. How are you guys liking the school so far?" Alice continues to make conversation.

"We've been here only two weeks, but David settled in pretty quickly, so that's good. He's a real music lover, so I guess it's the perfect school for him" Beca replies.

Before Alice can ask another question the curtains open and the kids file onto the stage. Chloe steps forward and welcomes everyone to the performance. Beca can’t help, but notice how great Chloe looked in the simple dark blue dress. The kids sing several songs alternated with a two very cute dance routines and several poems. As the last song ends David steps forward and recites one last poem thanking everyone and wishing everyone a good night. Beca's heart swells in her chest and her eyes start to get watery. She is so proud of her little boy.

 

When the lights come back on and people start getting up Alice starts talking to Beca again. "I also wanted to tell you that I am the president of the parents committee. We provide a helping hand in projects and outings. I was wondering if I could interest you in volunteering?"

"No, I'm sorry. I'm already busy enough as it is, with my job and David and all..."

"Oh, maybe your husband? Or your... Uhhmm... life partner?" Beca cringes at that comment "Plaid shirt, low heeled boots, obviously she had to be a lesbian. (Not that it wasn't true, but that was beside the point. Beca just hated stereotypes)

Not wanting to cause a scene Beca just replies: "Actually I'm a single mother"

"Oh" Alice quickly changes the topic, switching back to small talk and introducing Beca to a couple of more parents as they come out in the hallway where drinks and snacks are laid out for the parents.

When Alice spots Chloe, she pulls Beca towards the teacher. "Have you already met Ms. Beale?" Giving Beca no time to interrupt, she goes on "She's an absolute angel with our children. And she's a musical genius as well. The school is so lucky to have her. Did you know that in college Ms Beale lead her team to various national titles and even a world title in acapella?"

Chloe knew just how Beca feels about people like Alice and decided to play a little game. "Aww Alice, that's too much. I could never have done it without my co-captain who was the actual musical genius" she replies, locking eyes with Beca.

Completely unaware of what is going on, Alice continues: "Oh, I'm sure you're just selling yourself short, Ms Beale. Actually, I wasn't sure if you had already met Beca? She's David's mom."

Beca and Chloe now have to break eye contact before Beca dryly replies: "Yeah, we've met before."

 

Beca excuses herself and makes her way to the bathroom. She fishes her phone out of her pocket and she types a quick text to Chloe.

Beca 8:12 PM You, Chloe Beale, are pure evil. But thanks, you made my night :D

Beca 8:12 PM (Besides my little superstar of course)

 

The brunette is just about to go find David and head home when her phone buzzes.

Chloe 8:14 PM :) Come find me ASAP

Wondering what's going on Beca wanders back into the hallway. She quickly spots Chloe who is talking to, or rather being talked to by, a man. As she approaches, she recognizes the situation and knows what Chloe needs her to do.

"Ms Beale, uhm, sorry to interrupt, but I have some pressing matters concerning my son I would like to discuss... If I'm not interrupting..."

"No problem, Ms Mitchell. If you would excuse us, Mr Adams"

"Of course, Ms Beale" the man replies with a smile that gives Beca the creeps.

 

"You're a lifesaver, Beca. Ugh, I hate that douchebag. Who would hit on their kid's teacher?" Chloe says as they walk away. "Hey, now that it's just the two of us; I would very much like to see you tomorrow."

"Uhm Chlo, tomorrow is Saturday... I already promised David to go to the zoo..."

"The zoo sounds great to me, if that's okay with you."

"Uhm... How about you come over for a movie night instead? It's not that I that I don't trust you with David...obviously, but I think it might be ... weird? With you being his teacher … and us needing to work some stuff out. I'd prefer some alone time with you."

Chloe wiggles her eyebrows at that statement causing Beca to roll her eyes.

"Okay, I see your point, Becs. That might indeed be better." Chloe says, but she can't help feeling a little disappointed.

 

"Okay, see you tomorrow night then. I'm gonna head home now. You stay out of trouble, I won't be able to save you anymore." Beca winks

"Good night, Beca"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe a it's a bit of a shorter filler chapter, but I felt like we needed some school stuff. Struggled a bit again, but next chapters should be out soon...


	5. Chapter 5

Beca couldn't help feeling a little guilty over shutting Chloe off so quickly yesterday. If it had been Emily or Jesse asking, or even Stacie, she would have been fine with it. Her friends were the closest thing to a family she and David have and she would gladly involve them in David's life as well, so that David knows he can fall back on them too. But she has always been a little cautious about letting new people close to her and David, always afraid that they would break her trust and disappear. But Chloe was a whole different story. One, she's David's teacher and Beca would hate it if it would get uncomfortable at home or at school for David. Or for Chloe. But more importantly, Beca was a little afraid of letting Chloe get close, because she knew that she would Chloe come closer than anyone else and that scared her like hell.

David barges into her bedroom and jumps on the empty side of the bed, drawing her from her thoughts. 

"Come on, mom, get up, we're going to the zoo today" he says, jumping up and down on the bed excitedly. 

"Woah little man, calm down, it is way too early. Come lay next to me for a while" Beca says pulling the cover back to let David slip under it.

After snoozing for a little while, David asks: "Mom?"

"Hmhm" Beca replies

"Do you remember Felix?"

"Of course I do"

Felix was a boy that lived in their building in New York and was about David's age. His mother had helped out with David when she had to work.

"He was like my best friend. I miss him sometimes. Do you think he misses me too?"

"I'm sure he does. You know what? Let's send him a postcard from the zoo, so you can tell him about your first weeks here."

"That's a great idea" David happily agrees.

When Beca's alarm goes off, they get up and ready for their day at the zoo. 

 

The weather is beautiful and David studies all animals with great interest. They treat themselves to some ice cream and everything is just great. Beca really enjoys the time with her son, but just incidentally her mind wanders to a certain redhead.

At the gift shop David picks a card with a collage of the animals in the zoo to send to Felix.

"Mom, can we send a card to our other friends too? I think Stacie likes this one, and Jesse likes this one, and Emily likes..." He says holding up two cards while spinning the display to find one for Emily.

"Yeah, we can do that, but how about buying a small present for Emily instead? Then you can give it to her when she comes to visit in two weeks."

David picks out a key chain with a monkey for Emily and Beca spots one of a ladybug that she suddenly can't resist buying for Chloe. After paying they sit down outside to write the postcards and enjoy a drink. 

"Mom," David suddenly calls out "we forgot to buy Ms Beale a present!"

Beca looks at him slightly confused.

He continues: "Yeah, we got all our friends a card or a present, but isn't Ms Beale your friend too? We should get her something. Maybe she can come and have dinner with us and we can give it to her..."

Beca feels her heart filling with warmth when she listens to her boy.

"So you liked it when Ms Beale came over last time?" She asks him deciding to discuss the matter with him now he brought it up himself.

"Yeah, I did. You were smiling the whole time and you laughed a lot. I like it when you're happy, mom. And Ms Beale, she was really nice too, even more than at school."

"So you didn't think it was weird that your teacher was at our place?" She asks cautiously.

"Well at first I did, but then not, because she is your friend and really nice... There was one thing I didn't like… when she was there we didn't sing when we cleared the table and did the dishes."

Beca laughs at that last statement – they had been too busy with their stories- and replies: "I guess that can be sorted when we tell her about our little tradition, after all she was the one who got me into the habit of singing while doing chores. But I'm glad you're okay with Ms Beale coming over. And it wasn't weird at school either?"

"Nope" he replies.

"Good. She was coming to visit me later tonight when you would be asleep, but if it you're fine with it, I could invite her for dinner tonight?" Beca proposes.

"Yes! Oh, but her present.."

"You're such a sweet boy. Luckily I already got here something... How about you go play on the playground a little and I'm going to call Chloe"

David bolts off and Beca grabs her phone.

 

"Hi Beca, everything alright?"

"Hi Chloe, yeah, we've had a great time at the zoo. We are actually heading home soon. So, about tonight, we had agreed you would come over when David went to bed, right? Well.."

Chloe feels her heart drop fearing that Beca is going to cancel on her and replies with an unsteady "yeah?"

"Well, David brought you up today and we talked for a bit about you being around the house more and he is more than fine with it. So I was instructed to invite you over for dinner, and I would love if you came, if you feel comfortable with the situation."

"Oh Beca, I'd love to."

"Uhm, Chloe, there is one condition you have to agree to before you can come…"

"Okay, which is?"

"You have to sing with us during the dishes. Do you think you can do that?" Beca laughs

"Do you even know me?" Chloe teases back. "What time do you want me there?"

"I think we'll be home by six, around then would be fine"

"Great, see you then"

"See you"

 

Beca puts her phone away and gets up to call David. On their way home they pick up some groceries for dinner and some snacks for the evening. When they get home Chloe arrives almost simultaneously and together they head up to the apartment.

They've barely gotten inside or David already starts to ramble about all they saw today at the zoo. Chloe listens patiently and shares a smile with Beca, who heads into the kitchen to put away the groceries and start cooking. She finishes preparing the condiments, puts the potato wedges in the oven and starts preparing the meat for the burgers. When she has just put the burgers in pan, she feels an arm wrap around her middle and feels Chloe breath close to her face as she says:

"Something smells good here"

"Yeah, I learned a few things after college. I had to feed my kid something decent." Beca grins.

Turning away from the burgers for a minute she does a few things on her phone and suddenly an audio system switches on in the kitchen and the living room, playing what Chloe recognizes as one of Beca's mixes.

 

This time David is the one that leads the conversation. After he told Chloe all about the zoo, he continues with stories from their life in New York. Chloe listens attentively, while Beca sometimes frowns at some of the details that are not exactly true.

During the washing up Chloe somehow manages to change the music to a playlist of Disney songs, much to the delight of David. Beca protests pretending to hate the songs, but soon enough all three are singing along and dancing through the kitchen.

Not much later they all settle on the couch. Exhausted from the day at the zoo and the excitement of having Chloe over, the little boy falls fast asleep against the armrest. "Okay", Beca whispers, "let's get you to bed" and she lifts the boy from the couch. Chloe is impressed as she watches the small woman carry the boy to his bedroom.

 

Of course Beca lets Chloe pick the movie and she goes to the kitchen to get some drinks. Chloe settles for a comedy that Beca might like, well aware that it's very likely that the movie will only serve as a welcome distraction from whatever conversation they will be having.

They watch the movie for a while, until Chloe breaks the silence. 

“One thing that has been haunting me since our coffee date, is my stupid remark on settling down before starting a family. I never meant to criticize you as a single mom…. I see now you’re doing an amazing job..”

“Don’t worry, Chloe, I know.. David is the best kid, and we’re doing fine together, but it isn’t my ideal either, you know…”

“So what happened between you and Jesse? It seemed to me that he would be the kind of guy who would do the right thing by you, you know, stick around and maybe even marry you…”

“It’s not that he didn’t offer… I didn’t want to … We had just decided that it was best for us to break up, we couldn’t give each other what we wanted in life… The fact that I was pregnant didn’t change that for me... You know how my parents fought a lot before they got divorced? And how I hated my dad for leaving us?... I just could see that being us in 5 to 10 years. I simply couldn’t do that to my child. I mean … I never saw myself as the motherly type, but it’s funny how two lines on a piece of plastic you just peed on can change that”

Chloe couldn’t help blurting out a loud laugh at that blunt statement. Beca looked at her disturbed for a minute, but soon a smile started to form at the corners of her mouth.

“No, but seriously,” she continued, “from the moment I found out I was pregnant I was determined to shield my little one from all harm. And pretty soon I was convinced that I had to raise him by myself. Jesse tried to fight me, but I was so stubborn that he gave up after I had agreed that he could still see him whenever he wanted… I was fine with him being a kind of fun uncle that comes by often, but not with him being a dad that is hardly there. It must sound weird, but it made sense back then.”  
"So what about your love life?" Beca turns the attention to Chloe. "How can a great woman like you still be single?"

“I don’t know” Chloe sighs “I’ve dated a couple of people in the past, but somehow it never really worked out. Besides that I’m also pretty busy with my job, currently. Let’s just say it’s not a priority right now.”

“Well, you certainly can’t say that no one is interested” Beca says, clearly hinting at the incident at the school concert.

“Urghh, please stop talking about that creep. He has been hitting on me for over a year now and he really can’t take a hint. I already told him I’m not interested so many times, it’s just pathetic.” Chloe sighs. 

“Well from now on you have me to come to your rescue at school functions” Beca quips.

They settle back into their comfortable silence and just catch the end of the movie.

 

After that first movie /talking night, more would follow in the next couple of weeks. As time went by the distance between the two of them closed and they were back to their old habits when they were around each other. Chloe loved hanging out at Beca's place and cooked dinner or stayed with David when Beca had an emergency work thing.

 

“You know you don’t have to do all this for us, right?” Beca says one night. 

They sit on the couch at Beca’s place, Chloe propped up against Beca, checking activity sheets while the brunette idly plays with her red curls. Chloe had taken David home from school, so that Beca could go grocery shopping, so that they would have a long free evening together.

“I know” Chloe hums, “I just love to. I love you… you guys.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily is in town, which gives Beca and Chloe a night to themselves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, promised to update more frequently, but I have other priorities right now, I'm behind on my studies due to some back issues, trying to get that sorted, in the mean time a chapter to keep you entertained ;)

"Hey Becs, what are your plans tonight?" Emily asks as they take a break from recording. "I was thinking, tonight I'm free, and things aren't really hectic yet, so I thought, maybe I could come by and spend some time with the little man?"

"I was planning on going to check out an upcoming band, I think they may be a nice fit for the label, but I want to see them live first."

"Okay, so who's watching David? I would love to babysit him, I mean, I especially want see him, I'll be seeing more than enough of you the coming days" Emily says with a wink.

"No, it's fine, Chloe … no wait, yes, Emily please watch him, then I'll take Chloe with me. I would like a night with only grown-ups for us."

"So the aca-parents go out, leaving their kids to themselves." Emily notices how Beca rolls her eyes. "Okay, okay, I'm glad to hear the two of you are talking again."

Beca thanks her again and shoot Chloe a quick text.

Beca 2:55 PM: Hi Chloe, tonight there’s this band that I’m going to check out for the label. But I think you’ll like them too. So I was thinking, you could come along and we could make a nice evening out of it? Grab a bite to eat first?

Beca 2:57 PM: I need a another chance to thank you for being so amazing ;)

Chloe 3:35 PM: Sounds good, but what about David? 

Beca 3:38 PM: Don’t worry, Emily is in town this week to get some work done on her new album and she loves the little man. She has offered to watch him for the night.

Chloe 3:39 PM: WHAT?! Our aca-baby? :)

Chloe 3:40 PM: Why did you not tell me sooner? I haven’t seen her in ages…

Beca 3:42 PM: Right, I take it is a yes then. I’ll make a dinner reservation at seven, but if you come to my place early, you’ll have a chance to hang with Emily for a bit.

Chloe 3:44 PM: :D

It is around a quarter to six when Chloe shows up. Beca opens the door and leads her to the living room, where Emily is playing with David. Beca excuses herself, mumbling something about finishing up some work stuff and still needing to change. 

Chloe joins Emily on the couch and as soon as David notices her, his eyes light up and he calls “Chloe!”. Climbing up between the two women on the couch, he resumes his story about school by explaining to Emily how Chloe is the same as Ms Beale, but not really, because “Ms Beale is my teacher and Chloe is mommy’s friend”. With that statement his story is apparently finished, because he drops himself off the couch and starts to play with his toy train set. Emily looks confused and Chloe quickly explains how she had told him that he could call her Chloe outside school, because as she started hanging out a Beca’s place more, it felt weird to be called Ms Beale outside work. He had been confused a little, but soon he had caught on.

Emily tells Chloe all about her music career and how happy she is to be working with Beca again. Chloe shares stories of her life as a kindergarten teacher. Time passes quickly and then Beca shows up dressed in black skinny jeans and a sleeveless night blue top that falls loosely around her. On her arm is a leather jacket to complete the outfit. Chloe catches herself staring as the tiny brunette asks her if she is ready to go. She responds with a quick “yeah” and gets up. 

“Alright”, Beca says as she gets down to David’s level, “Mommy and Chloe are going now. Listen to Emily and be nice, okay?” David nods and gives his mom a quick kiss.   
Beca gets back up again and grabs Chloe by the wrist. “Let’s go. Bye, Emily!”

The evening is great. Beca takes Chloe to a nice simple Italian restaurant. The older girl opts for a pasta primavera and the younger girl picks the lasagne Bolognese. They share a bottle of wine and the time passes quickly. When they’ve finished eating, Beca gets up to settle the check. In a few minutes she’s back and holds out her hand to Chloe, who takes it and gets up. Arm in arm they walk to the bar where the band is playing. Beca was right, Chloe does indeed like the band very much. Its members all contribute to the vocals, harmonizing beautifully. The songs they play have a sort of Americana feel to them. The girls sit at the bar as they listen to the music, Chloe leaning against Beca. When the second set turns out to be more up tempo and danceable, they get up and dance together, Chloe pulling Beca close, like they have done so many times.   
At the end of the performance Beca pulls herself loose from Chloe’s arms. “Okay, time for business now” Beca winks as she leaves to talk to the artists. The redhead returns to the corner of the bar waiting patiently for Beca to finish. 

“Alright, Ms Hot Shot Music Producer, let’s head home. I’ve got a class of kids waiting for me in the morning.” Chloe jokes as the brunette returns.

As they get back to the apartment, Beca tells Chloe to be quiet. “There’s a good chance both of them are asleep by now” she grins. When they enter the living room Emily is indeed snoring on the couch. 

Chloe hugs Beca sideways placing her head on the other girl’s shoulder and says: “Aww, look at our baby girl sleeping peacefully”. 

Beca playfully kisses Chloe’s head. “Right, you take care of this one”, she replies while motioning to the fleece blanket that lies folded next to the couch, “while I go and check on my other child”. 

In the quiet of David’s room Beca takes a moment to gather her thoughts. As the last seven years had passed, she’d forgotten what her friendship with Chloe had actually been like. How Chloe had come barging into her life, with no respect for personal space or the walls that Beca had pulled up around herself. How Beca had let her pull those down. Beca has slowly built up these walls again, but Chloe had made it seem like there weren’t from the moment they reconnect. Somewhere Beca knew that she never wanted to let her go again…

Chloe had covered Emily with the blanket and had gotten herself a bottle of water from the fridge and was sitting on arm rest waiting for Beca to return. After a couple of minutes the brunette came in from the hallway, holding a t-shirt and some sleeping shorts. “I guess you’ll have to share a bed with me, Beale. Uhmm … unless you don’t want to, of course. I mean, I could always call you a cab to take you back to your place.” 

“Don’t be silly Becs, you know how I love to cuddle up to you”, Chloe says as she takes the clothes from Beca.   
Both of them change quickly and get into the bed. Immediately Chloe moves to Beca’s side, placing her head on Beca’s chest and draping her arm around her waist. Just as they had spent many nights in each other’s beds at the Bella house. Beca smiles as she pulls the blanket over both of them and whispers: “Night, Chlo”, but the ginger had already dozed off.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after Chloe spent the night: waking up together and studio time with the Junks

Beca wakes as Chloe stirs at her side. When she opens her eyes, she is met by those giant sky blue eyes. "I've missed this Becs" Chloe yawns as she pulls her closer. Beca hums in agreement as she presses her head into the crook of Chloe’s neck, burying her face in the red curls. Then she gets up, but instructs Chloe to remain where she is. Returning with the little gift, Beca starts to speak nervously as she sits down next to Chloe.

"Chlo, the other day at the zoo, David and I bought all our friends a little gift. That day we bought you something too...David made sure I didn't forget to buy you something, we just forgot when we got home." Beca says with the wrapped gift in her hands.

"Ah, how sweet, Becs" Chloe answers with a smile.

"But I added a little something for you.." Beca quickly adds "I would like you to have the keys to my apartment. I mean... I already meant to give them in case of emergencies, but actually I want you to feel free to use them to let yourself in whenever. I am so glad you're back in my life and you already spend a lot of time here, so I guess … it would be practical? But if you think it's weird or anything, I mean, it would also be fine if you kept them for emergencies .. just, whatever"

Chloe opens the package and notices the ladybug keychain. While she listens to Beca rambling on, tears start welling up and a smile forms on her face. Somewhere deep down she feel the urge to shut the other girl up by kissing her, but she quickly pushes the feeling away and settles for a much more appropriate hug. "Oh Becs.." is all she manages to say.  They lay like that for a while, until noises from the kitchen attract their attention. "Come on, let's check what the kids are up to" Chloe says getting up and pulling Beca with her. 

As they approach the kitchen, they hear Emily shushing David. "Come on Davy, we've got to finish making breakfast and laying the table before the aca-moms wake up". David chuckles and repeats "aca-moms". Beca groans and rolls her eyes, while Chloe giggles next to her. When they round the corner, Emily and David greet them with a giant stack of pancakes. The four of them devour the stack of pancakes and get started with the rest of their day.

 

While the kids are working on their assignments, Chloe finds herself playing with the set of keys that Beca gave her. With the thought of Beca giving her the keys, also came the thought of how she'd felt that morning. She had tried so hard to get over the little brunette, but she clearly hadn't. If possible she loves her even more now, her and the boy. She longs for those chances to be part of their little family. She truly enjoys helping her friend out, even just being her friend, being there for her. She knows very well that Beca giving her the key was her acceptance and appreciation of that help, nothing more.

 

As school is over, Chloe checks her phone again to find a text from Beca.

Beca 3:20 Hey Beale, wanna come hangout after school at the studio?

Beca 3:21 Also, could you please bring my kid along, if you're heading here?

Chloe 3:31 Please don't tell me you forgot about picking your son up again? 

Beca 3:32 Okay, I won't.

Beca 3:33 No, but, seriously Legacy has a favour to ask you.

Chloe 3:36 You're the worst. We are on our way.

Chloe quickly finishes organizing her classroom and calls David. “Come on, we’re going to pay mommy a visit at work” David slips his little hand into Chloe’s as they exit the classroom.

  


When they arrive at the studio they are not only greeted by Beca and Emily, but Mrs Junk is also there. Chloe is surprised to see the older Bella there, but before she can greet her Emily enthusiastically hugs her. After the redhead has had a chance to greet Mrs Junk as well. Beca speaks up:

"Chloe, Legacy here has a favor to ask you"

"Well, Beca and I were brainstorming about a bonus track for the new album and we came up with an acapella version of Flashlight. As an homage to our time as Bellas, important for both Beca and me and the start of our collaboration. And then I thought about asking my mom to sing along, because she always showed me how great it was to be a Bella. And of course you had to be there, you and Beca were some sort of unity leading the Bellas in my first year. So Chloe, will you sing on the track?"

"But I'm no professional singer..."

"Relax Chloe, it's acapella, we are World Champions in that remember? And you know the song, although the arrangement is now for four people only. Besides I hear your singing on almost a daily basis. You'll be fine." Beca tries to put her at ease.

"Yeah, Chloe you'll be great. And think about how awesome it would be: a track with me and my three moms!" Emily chips in.

The three other women laugh at Emily's enthusiasm and Beca rolls her eyes and says:

"I've told you before, but you're taking Amy's aca-mom crap way too seriously."

Emily quips back: "Ah, but I know you secretly love it", which causes Chloe to giggle.

"Okay Chlo, how about I show you what I came up with, we'll do a test recording and then you decide?"

  


Chloe had forgotten how good Beca actually was at the entire acapella thing. She made an arrangement that was so complete, with only four voices. It simply took Chloe's breath away. All three other women had already recorded their part and when Chloe heard her test sample mixed in with that, she knew  she had to do it.

It took quite a few tries to get it exactly the way Beca wanted it, but she was patiently explaining how she wanted it each time and Chloe felt totally at ease in the booth.

When the redhead had finished, she stepped outside the booth. Beca had called for some coffee and snacks, which were delivered at that moment. The three other women sat together eating the snacks and making small talk. Chloe had noticed how nice and quiet David had been, keeping himself entertained and not interrupting anything. She called him over to drink and eat something and he came, crawling into her lap.

Beca insisted that she wanted to finish mixing the track to see if anything needed changing. Whilst making small talk with the others, Chloe kept glancing at the producer, she had always loved watching the other girl work, but here in the studio it impressed her even more. The tiny producer asked Emily to record a certain part again, but the she was happy with the result. When she played it back to them, Chloe felt tears welling up in her eyes.

  


To celebrate the successful completion of the track, Mrs Junk insists on taking everyone out to dinner. Because they have David with them and Emily and Beca both claim to be very hungry, they go to a diner that is well known for its burgers according to Chloe.

When they get to the diner, Chloe and Beca settle into one side of a booth with David in between them, while Emily and her mother sit opposite them. Not long after ordering, they are presented with large plates of food and start to eat. Emily enjoys watching the trio at the opposite side of the table. They seem to have forgotten the Junks, trying to steal food of each other’s plates, playfully swatting away hands and feeding each other bites of food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least one of them is acknowledging that there is something there... We're slowly getting somewhere, peoples!
> 
> Also my apologies for spelling inconsistencies, I noticed I switch between US and UK, but I hope you get the idea ;)
> 
> Next chapter(s) is/are still a bit of a unstructured mess, so I will probably test your patience a bit more..


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter basically stretches over a period of about five weeks, highlighting two events.
> 
> It's just a bunch of fluff again, just to pass the time.

On the way back from the diner Chloe gets a phone call from her landlord who tells her that pipes in the apartment building had burst. After dropping off Mrs Junk and Emily Beca drives the three of them to Chloe's apartment to check it out.

When they enter, Beca is shocked, not so much by the layer of water on the floor, but by the apartment. It is pretty small and so not Chloe. The furniture is pretty generic and the colours are boring. Unlike Chloe’s room at Barden, there are hardly any personal touches to the interior. There’s the bookshelves with a couple of pictures on them, one is a picture of their time at Worlds, one is a picture of Chloe and Aubrey as Bella captains, and then there are some of Chloe’s parents and her brothers.

 

Chloe comes back into the living room and sighs:

 

"Okay, I talked to my landlord. Apparently this in going to take a while, and in the meantime I will have to stay somewhere else..."

 

David tugs on his mother's jacket and asks: ""Mom, she can stay with us, right?"

 

"Oh Becs, please can I?" Chloe pouts.

 

"Well, you've got the keys to my house, so I guess I can't keep you out", Beca smirks.

 

Chloe high fives David and crushes Beca in a hug.

 

After gathering the necessary items they leave the apartments with two big bags of Chloe's stuff.

 

Back at Beca’s apartment, Beca hesitates for a minute.

 

"Uhm, I haven't set up the guest rooms yet, but we could go pick out some furniture over the weekend for your room. Until then you're free to sleep with me, or on the couch, whatever you prefer."

Chloe knows that it was probably a bad idea to move in with Beca, albeit temporarily. And she knows that she definitely should have opted for the couch, but she can’t help herself. She just wants to be close to the little brunette. She loves the girl and even though she knows that her love will probably never be returned like that, she’ll take what she can get. If that is being friends, then she’ll be Beca’s best friend. And sure she can cuddle with her, friends do that, right?

Quickly they settle into a routine, Chloe helps with the little things around the house, although Beca keeps insisting that she doesn’t have to. The evenings usually ended with all three of them in front of the TV, watching cartoons or Disney movies with David, until it was David's bed time. After that Beca would allow Chloe to pick the channels, not minding what they'd watch, as long as they could sit there together, talking incidentally, parts of their bodies always touching.

For the third weekend in a row they decided that the weather was just too nice not to go to the park and that it would be a shame to spend it inside looking at furniture. They both felt like this procrastination was actually a silent agreement on their current sleeping arrangements. Chloe's clothes had made their way into the walk-in closet in the master bedroom and Beca suspects that Chloe had been back to her own apartment a few times, dragging more and more stuff over to Beca's.

One afternoon Beca is home early, and when Chloe an David come home from school, David asks the two girls to go swimming in the pool. Chloe easily gets infected with David's enthusiasm and after a little convincing Beca agrees and they head to the basement where the pool is.

Most occupants of the building use the pool in the early morning or at night to get a workout in, so at this time of the day they are the only visitors. David can't really swim yet, but likes to practice it. With the help of his armbands he swims between the two girls. After a while David gets tired and he and Beca hang on to the edge as Chloe swims some laps. After a little while the boy gets cold and they get out of the pool, wrapping themselves in the towels they brought.

In the meantime one of the other tenants has arrived, some smug guy that Beca had seen in the elevator a couple of times. He puts his stuff down on one of the other poolside benches. When he sees Chloe emerging from the water, he whistles at her. Beca’s jaw clenches and her brow furrows, and she shouts at him:

 

“Hey dude, keep it in your pants”

 

The blunt shout makes Chloe giggle and the man looks disturbed. When they gather their stuff to head upstairs, the redhead gives her a quick peck on the shoulder.

 

“My pocket-sized knight-in-shining-amour”

 

Beca huffs, but the corners of her mouth curl upwards.

 

* * *

 

On Monday Chloe comes home with a stressed look on her face. Beca is sitting at one end of the dining table and Chloe settles across from her.

"Beca, I need a huge favor. Mrs Bloom, who plays the piano for the recitals, tripped and broke her wrist. And you are the only one I know who can accompany singers on the piano. Please, help me out? The concert is at the end of the week and you are the only one I could think of on such short notice." Chloe looks at her with a pleading look in those baby blues.

Beca sighs, knowing she'll have a hard time resisting her. "Let me check with the office if I can block some time this week."

When Beca checked with her assistant, it turned out that she had a few deadlines coming up, but no meetings. Not wanting to let Chloe down, she ends up working early mornings so she can spend the afternoons at the school to practice.

Beca had been at the school for four afternoons that week, rehearsing with various groups of children. She had enjoyed it more than she thought she would. She had done it for Chloe and David in the first place, but the love of music she saw in some of these kids had truly moved her. One day after school a little boy and girl had hesitantly come up to her, asking her about playing the piano. She had let them behind the piano, played a bit for them and taught them a simple piece. The looks on the kids’ faces had been priceless.

The parent committee had arranged food for the kids so they could eat before the concert and they had all gone to their classrooms to eat. Beca was in the auditorium setting up at the piano. After putting the sheet music in the right order, she warms up her hands by playing some scales. After that she plays some random songs that come to mind. When she plays Emily's song Flashlight, she starts to sing along. She doesn't notice when Alice comes in until she finishes.

 

"Oh hi, Beca, I didn't mean to disturb you, but I brought you some food. You've got quite a voice if you don't mind me saying."

 

"Thank you."

 

"I was surprised to hear that you were going to play at the recital. I thought you didn't have time for that?"

 

"Well..erhm Music is my passion, and the kids would be so disappointed if they had to cancel the whole thing. So yeah, I made an exception." Beca replies, leaving out the big role Chloe had played in her decision.

 

Beca and Alice walked over to some of the benches at the side of the stage, so they could sit as Beca ate.

 

"So, do you work in music? Are you a singer? That song you were singing is from some other girl, right? Emma or something?"

 

"It's Emily, and I'm a producer. I actually helped Emily with the demo of that song back when we were in college. After college I moved to LA, and she stayed behind to finish college. Now that I moved to Atlanta to run a studio here, we're actually working together again"

 

"Wow, that's impressive, a music producer. But no performer then?"

 

"No, I'm just way more comfortable doing what I do in relative anonymity. And composing and arranging is what I love to do, finding parts that go together to create something beautiful. Plus I get to work with a lot of talented people on a range of projects... So yeah.."

 

"Wow, impressive. I used to sing in college and I loved it, but I just became a legal assistant until I had kids."

 

"Oh, what kind of singing did you do?"

 

"Well, I was in acapella, but nothing major, we didn't really win competitions or anything."

 

"That's funny, believe it or not, I was in acapella too. What group were you part of?"

 

"I was a member of The Aca-demiX, but we never made it past regionals. What group were you in?"

 

"Actually I am a Barden Bella..."

 

Alice clasps her hands over her mouth. "Oh my, so you already knew Ms Beale when I-"

 

Alice is interrupted by a voice that comes from the hallway. "Becs, are you still in here? I got you some food, we wouldn't want you to-"

 

Chloe stops when she sees that Beca isn't alone. "Oh, hi Alice, I didn't see you there.."

 

"Come in Beale, we were just talking about music. Did you know Alice was in acapella too?"

 

"Really, so you told her about your aca-college days?"

 

"Well I am a proud Bella woman,” Beca grins, “But nothing specific, Alice was just figuring out that I probably knew you already, that night she introduced us when you came in."

 

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Alice, I was just having a little fun with Beca."

 

"Oh, it's fine Ms Beale, but do you also mean that Beca was your co-captain?"

 

Beca takes it upon her to answer that, because Chloe looks at her questioning. "Yeah, I was. We hadn't seen each other in a while. With the general school policy and to prevent others from judging David, we sorta kept our friendship under the radar, being the new kid is already hard enough. So we would like your discretion, if you understand."

Alice nods.

The three women chat for a little while longer until it is time to get the kids ready and to let the parents in. Alice and Chloe go back to help with that and Beca goes backstage to prepare.

The concert turns out to be a great success. Beca is very happy with it, she doesn't even mind the compulsory mingling that much today. Chloe notices and in the car on the way back she asks about it.

 

"So, you enjoyed yourself today?"

 

"Yeah, I really did, not just today, the entire week."

 

"And you made friends with Alice..."

 

"Well, friends... But she is okay. When I first met her I thought she was one of those moms who try to control everything. But I think she does it for the kids, and that's good. I mean the kids really enjoy it and there is no way the staff can do it all, so it's great there are people like Alice."

 

They sit in silence for a while, until Beca speaks up again.

 

"Chloe, I loved the love of music in those children."

 

"Aww, you're turning into a softy Mitchell."

 

" No Chlo, I'm serious. I want to contribute more to the music program. Just let me know what I can do. I mean I have more than enough resources if you need instruments or equipment, but I would also really like to put my time in, maybe get some of my people involved too.."

Another silence follows in which Beca starts to play with Chloe’s hand that is on the armrest between them.

“Hey Chlo, I really want to thank you for all your help. Even though you don’t have to, but I really appreciate it. It’s just… I thought David and I were doing fine, and we were, but now that we do the stuff together, I don’t know, I just like how we have more time to things. To relax, or to do things like this week. I never allowed myself to have time for that… Thank you.”

Chloe patiently listens to the rambling of the little brunette while David is sleeping in the backseat. When Beca stops talking, Chloe lifts their joint hands and presses her lips to them for a few seconds. The couple of minute remaining on their journey home they sit in a comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting later than promised, but apparently its harder to write serious schoolwork than fanfics ;)
> 
> So, like I said, a bunch of fluff. 
> 
> Next chapter will see some developments... And Stacie... So stay tuned.  
> That chapter is almost formed, so won't be long. (I hope)
> 
> Oh and by the way, Alice is just some random person, not a version of the former Bella captain.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca needs to go to NY for her business. A great chance to catch up with an old friend...  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, since my chapters include some hops in time, I decided to put lines whenever that's the case. I hope it makes it clearer.
> 
> This is actually the first half of the NY chapter, there is more to come, but I decided to post this ahead, since it's way too long to post as one chapter anyway. (And like this I'm sorta keeping my promise of posting weekly...)

Two days had passed since the concert and Beca's sweet but somewhat cryptic confession. Chloe had taken it as another token of appreciation, but had a hard time not reading into it too much. Sunday evening had come around and while Beca was still in the kitchen, Chloe and David had gone into the living room. The redhead settled on the couch with the remote and asks:

"David, what movie do you want to watch?"

Two eyes turn towards her and he is silent for a moment, his nose scrunched as he thinks.

"I don't know, Chloe", he says as he pulls himself up on the couch and settles into Chloe's lap, "can we see the options, please?"

Chloe flicks through the on demand video library until she finds the Disney movies. Going through them, she makes some suggestions of the ones she knows Beca likes too. David finally settles on Finding Nemo.

 

"Becs, we're going to start without you."

 

She yells to the kitchen as she slightly adjust her position to a more comfortable one with David leaning against her. This is a recent development where David seeks more of her affection, but she's not complaining. Having been a little uncertain at first, because of the whole being-his-teacher thing, but when she saw nothing changed at school, she was fine with it. So here she is with her, yeah, what should she call him? Stepson? Nephew? Neither seem to fit, but she knows that the little boy has his own place in her heart, he's no longer just Beca's kid and one of her pupils.

She is awakened from her musings as Beca comes into the room.

 

"I see you guys don't need me here anymore.", she says pretending to be hurt. "I'll be in my studio"

 

"Nooo, Beca, I saved you a seat"

 

Chloe plays along, while she lifts her upper body, holding David in place with one arm, to shift down the couch a little, so Beca can sit near the armrest with Chloe's head in her lap.

The three of them watch the movie until David falls asleep on Chloe’s lap. Careful not to wake him, Chloe sits up and gets off the couch to carry him to his bed. Beca stands up to accompany her, but the redhead shakes her head to indicate that she doesn’t need to help.

When Chloe comes back to the living room, she finds that the little brunette had settled into a more comfortable position and was watching the rest of the movie. Settling down into the smaller woman’s body, she says:

 

“I can’t believe Finding Nemo is actually one of your favourite Disney movies…”

 

“Hey, it’s a movie where a man's wife is brutally murdered by a serial killer and his son is kidnapped and he has to chase the kidnapper thousands of miles with the help of a mentally disabled women. And there are the turtles, who are definitively even more stoned than the High Notes used to be. And it’s a fucking children’s movie…”

 

Chloe slaps the brunette and they get into a fight where Chloe ends up straddling Beca.

 

“This”, she says while tickling Beca, “is what you get for ruining one of the cutes movies ever.”

 

The brunette pushes Chloe off her and they switch to watch some series until Beca is struggling to stay awake and Chloe decides it’s time for bed.

 

* * *

 

 

The next couple of days pass in similar domestic bliss, until Beca comes home late from work one day. Chloe is sitting on the couch when Beca comes in, speaking on the phone. She is clearly agitated.

 

"Yeah... Yeah... On such short notice?!... Okay, I need to make some arrangements, let me get back to you...Bye"

 

After hanging up Beca sighs and lets Chloe wrap her in a hug.

 

"Bad news?" Chloe asks

 

"They need me in New York next week for some strategic meetings. I have to leave in two days… I have to take care of so many things... Make arrangements at the office, make arrangements for David ..."

 

"Becs, I'm here, you know. David and I will be fine."

 

"I didn't want to assume, are you sure? I'll be gone for four days.."

 

"Beca, we'll be fine"

 

"Thank you" Beca sighs

 

* * *

 

On Sunday Beca leaves for New York. Chloe had offered to drive her to the airport, but Beca had declined. She insisted Chloe should sleep in and have a nice relaxing day. She also knows it will be easier for David that way. So here they were Sunday morning 3:30 AM, Chloe and David sleepy and in their pyjamas, Beca frantically checking whether she had everything. When the taxi pulls op she kisses both of them on the cheek and is out the door.

 

"Okay, let's get back to sleep" Chloe says offering her hand leading the boy. When they pass Beca's bedroom, David comes to a halt. "Chloe, can I sleep in here?"

 

In the first period that Chloe slept in one bed with Beca, David would crawl in at Beca's other side. Later he did opt for the middle, but he still clung to the brunette. She figured it would be fine to let him sleep in the bed, let him snuggle with Beca's pillow or something, if it would make it easier on him that his mom just left for a few days. To her surprise David did not choose to stay on his mother's side of the bed, but wraps his arms around Chloe's neck, curling up against her torso. Chloe feels a new sensation of love flow through her body. As she hears his breath steadying, she soon falls asleep too. When they woke up it was already well into the morning and Chloe decided that they would go out for brunch and to the park afterwards.

 

Beca had an uneventful flight and arrived in New York. She took a cab to the hotel to get herself settled in. The actual meetings would not start until tomorrow, but she had a one on one meeting later that day with someone on the Atlanta office, now that she was there anyway.

 

When she had dropped off her bag and closed her eyes for a short nap, she decided that she should go eat something. Since she wasn't in New York much these days, she planned to make most of her days and decided to call Stacie to see if she was up for brunch.

 

Stacie lived in New York and was always busy, being the editor of a new popular lifestyle glossy. Luckily she could find some time to have brunch with Beca. Instead of going out she picked up some food and coffee and met Stacie at her apartment.

 

"Beca! It's been too long, how have you been?" Stacie wraps the smaller brunette in a hug, which she only briefly allows.

 

"Ugh, Stacie, it's only been a few months. I got busy, didn't have much time to call or anything."

 

"I know, I know. Single mom, hot shot producer, even running a studio now. I don't get how you do it. Speaking of which, where is your boy?"

 

"Uhm, I didn't take him, since I have three full days of meetings here, and not much else."

 

"Okay, so I guess you settled in nicely then. Beca, I have to ask you a favor. Our next issue has a Powermom theme, strong independent women raising children, with articles on how to avoid getting a mom body, tips for a better sex life after having kids, a series of interviews with single women who have a career and a kid, I thought you could be like a highlight to that? You know, since you're mildly famous?"

 

"No, Uhm, I.. Don't want that. I mean it wouldn't be fair or something."

 

Beca wants to slap herself at that response. Stacie felt something was off as well.

 

"Beca, what do you mean it wouldn't be fair. Fair to whom?... Is Jesse back?"

 

"No, it's no Jesse, he's still in Europe... It's just, there are some people that are always prepared to help, it doesn't feel good...", she tries to make a save.

 

Just at that moment Beca's phone notifies her of several incoming messages. It was a series of pictures, David behind an stack of pancakes, David on the swings in the park, a selfie of Chloe with a cup of coffee and a picture of the both of them. Forgetting all around her for a minute, Beca allows a goofy smile to form around her lips. How she loves those dorks.

 

Stacie watched the tiny brunette with growing wonder. "Oh my... Beca, are you seeing someone?"

 

"No, I'm not. It's just an update on how David is doing"

 

"Are you sure, you look at your phone like you're about to melt.."

 

"Let it go, Stace. How is your love life?"

 

"Well, busy working woman and the Hunter still won't be tamed, so … yeah"

 

"Stacie, are you ever going to grow up? I mean … seriously, do you never think about what it would be like not to come back to an empty house? … Not to wake up alone? … To have someone waiting with dinner when you come home after a particularly long day?" Beca's train of thought had derailed somewhere there, but Beca hadn't seemed to notice.

 

Stacie did however and wasn't going to let it go this time. "Beca, I'm sure you four year old isn't cooking you dinner. You are definitely seeing someone.."

 

"No, I'm not." Beca replies turning to look down at the street down below.

 

"Come on Beca, don't lie to me. There is something going on."

 

After a long silence Beca admits: "Chloe moved in with us. I met her again, she's still in Atlanta teaching at David's school and her-"

 

"So you told her?"

 

Beca keeps staring out of the window, remaining silent.

 

"So you didn't? You know you should, right?"

 

"No, Stace, I'll lose her."

 

"So what will you do when someone else comes along, you'll lose her. Maybe you should just tell her about your little revelation and leave it up to her?"

 

"You know it is impossible to just tell her I'm gay. It will always mean something more, and she can only take it the wrong way, unless I tell her the whole truth, which I can't do."

 

"Beca, you're impossible. Just never say I didn't warn you."

 

The two girls have no desire to continue this discussion and their conversation drifts off to Stacie’s life and work.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part of Beca in NY, some Chloe, but mainly Beca trying to make sense of recent events...

That Monday Chloe sits in her classroom after school, because she had to finish something. David is playing quietly in a corner waiting till they can go home. The silence is broken when the principal steps into the classroom and asks:

 

"Ms Beale, is Ms Mitchell late again? I thought she promised it wouldn't happen anymore..."

 

'Fuck', the word almost slips Chloe's lips. She knew she should have confided with her boss as soon as she moved in with Beca, but she had been dreading it. She takes a deep breath and speaks up.

 

"Well, ehrm, there's something I need to tell you. I know the school has a strict policy of keeping the relationship between parents and staff professional, but Beca and I, I mean Ms Mitchell and I, we go back to our college days. I'm currently staying at her house, because my own apartment has water damage and is being renovated. She's in New York for business now, and the least I could do was stay with David for her. I just need to finish this stuff up here and we're heading home."

 

She tries to keep it as matter-of-factly as she can.

 

"Do any of the other parents know?"

 

"Alice only knows about us going to college together, but I'm confident she won't tell anyone."

 

The principal is hesitant for a moment, but answers:

 

"Ms Beale, this is very much against school policy, but I understand the urgency of your situation. If I receive signals that this influences your work or if other parents find out, you understand that I'll be forced to take appropriate measures."

 

A little afraid of what 'appropriate measures' are, Chloe nods in silence.

 

 

After the relatively calm Sunday Beca has two crazy days of meetings. The meetings mainly consisted of the LA manager fighting with the NY manager and Beca had been watching from the side line. There was a constant rivalry between the two offices, but the Atlanta office was never part of that rivalry. Beca felt like she was wasting here time, she hadn’t come to New York just to hear her two former bosses fighting. After listening to them going on about whose ideas were the best, or who should determine what the company should do for almost a day, Beca just snaps.

 

“Look, I’ve worked for both of you, and the way I see it, this is just some childish fighting. What the New York office produces isn’t better than what the LA office does, or the other way around. The fact that both locations are so different is what makes the company so successful. So maybe we should even use that to our advantage more.”

 

Both men silently stare at the tiny brunette, which makes her feel even smaller by the minute. Then finally the LA boss speaks up.

 

“Mitchell, that’s actually a great idea. But where does that leave Atlanta?”

 

“Hopefully in peace to let me do what I do best, create music”, Beca huffs.

 

“Oh no, Beca, you are one of the most musically gifted people in the industry, but I think we can no longer deny that you have a very strong sense of business as well.” The NY manager agrees.

 

The next day was spent brainstorming how they could actually make it work, laying the groundwork for a campaign that would highlight all three locations separately, playing the differences to their advantage, as Beca had suggested.

 

 

On Tuesday evening Beca decides to go to the hotel bar to get herself a drink. She sits down at the bar and orders a Jack and coke. Sipping from her drink she lets her mind wander from the meeting to David and Chloe back in Atlanta. She'd kill to be there right now, just the three of them at home. She doesn't notice it when a woman sits down on the empty stool next to hers, until a voice asks:

 

"Drinking all by yourself? That's hardly ever a good sign. Can I get you  another one of those?"

                                                                                                                             

Beca looks up to see the blonde who offers her a drink. Happy for some company to distract her from her homesick thoughts she accepts.

 

"Yeah, a Jack and coke, please. Hi, I'm Beca."

 

"Hi, I'm Julie. What brings you here?"

 

"I'm currently on a business trip, meeting at the cooperation’s headquarters. Lots of talking, boring stuff, you know...What about you?"

 

"I'm actually in town to meet with my publisher, I write novels. What kind of business are you in? You don't look like some boring business woman..."

 

"Well I am pretty boring in general. But I'm a music producer."

 

The women chat for a while and Beca notices that Julie moves closer to her and is clearly checking her out. Although she can't deny that the woman is gorgeous, she feels uncomfortable and is not sure she wants this. For starters she didn't like the small frown she had observed when she had mentioned her son, and she was coming on too strong for Beca's liking. And even though she has decided that it is best to move on and get over Chloe, the redhead is still in the back of her mind. Speaking of the Devil, her phone rings at that same moment. A glance at the caller ID informs her that it's Chloe.

 

"Excuse me, Julie, it's my wife calling, I have to get this one. Thanks for the drink, see you around"

 

Julie looks at her with disbelief as she gets up. Beca quickly makes her way out of the bar before she picks up.

 

"Hey Chlo, what's wrong?"

 

"Does anything have to be wrong? I just wanted to hear your lovely voice."

 

This non-intentional flirting was going to be the death of Beca someday, she knew it.

 

"Right.."

 

"And I wanted to confirm your arrival time tomorrow. We're coming to pick you up."

 

"Okay, great. I'm looking forward to seeing you again. How are things there?"

 

Chloe hears a tired tone in Beca's voice.

 

"It's fine here, nothing special, but we can't wait to have you back here. I'm already planning a welcome home movie night."

 

Beca groans, but secretly she can't wait to be curled up against Chloe on under a blanket on their couch.

 

"I'll check my flight details upstairs and text you. Night, Chlo."

 

"Night Becs"

 

 

The next morning Beca heads down for breakfast. At the breakfast buffet she spots the blonde from last night. She tries to avoid her but the blonde has spotted her and joins her at her table.

 

"Hey Beca nice to see you again, so what was that about last night? I'm not used to getting turned down and especially not with such lame excuses."

 

"Hi Julie, I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression. I wasn't really looking for anyone, I just liked to have someone to talk to, to get my mind of a busy day."

 

"Look we're both adults, there's totally no reason to have a friend call and pretend like it's your wife."

 

"She's …"

 

"No, Beca, look. I'm not stupid, you're not wearing a wedding band and you don't even seem like the marrying type to me. You should just have the guts to be honest with me."

 

"OK, I'm not married, technically. But there is someone, sort of, so again, I'm sorry if I gave you a wrong impression but I'm not interested."

 

"Fine, whatever." Julie gets up with an air of annoyance and leaves Beca behind.

 

After breakfast Beca goes to her room to pack her stuff. Beca had opted for late check out, but she still had some time to pass before heading to the airport. She remembers that she hasn't got any gifts for back home yet. She buys David a t shirt and a yellow taxi toy car. She doesn't see anything she likes for Chloe, so she decides she'll buy her a more regular gift, rather than some NY memorabilia. After all, she looked after David those days, on top of everything else. Close to her hotel was a jeweller, so she decides to look for something for Chloe there.

At the jeweller Beca browses the displays, she isn't really sure what to get Chloe. After some browsing she sees a simple bracelet, a fine silver chain with a single bead on it. The bead is decorated with a line of little diamonds. Beca instantly likes it an decides to get it for Chloe. Content with her pick, she heads back to the hotel to pick up her luggage and head to the airport.

 

The check-in is uneventful and Beca is one of the first passengers to get onto the plane. After putting her bag in the overhead compartment she settles into her seat. By putting her headphones on she isolates herself from the rest of the plane.

When she is settled in nicely, her thoughts begin to wander to the events of the past three days.

First there was meeting with Stacy, the remarks that she had made about Chloe kept echoing in Beca's mind. Stacie hadn't even said "if", but "when". And of course, Chloe is an amazing woman, it was unthinkable that she would remain single. But the thing was, Chloe didn't seem to go anywhere. In all the time Chloe had lived with her, the redhead had been out twice, both times with some colleagues and once she had dragged her to the mixer in their building. Other than that Chloe spend most of her time at Beca's side. Beca had grown too accustomed to that.

Then there was that meeting with the blonde, Julie, and the incident with the phone call. That night she had tried to convince herself that it was just the same as in college, when they had pretended to be girlfriends to get rid of annoying boys, but after that morning exchange with Julie, she knew that it wasn't. It was especially the marrying type comment that had thrown her off. Even though she had been with Jesse all through college, she had never even thought about what it would be like to be married one day, she had just never looked that far ahead. It was different with Chloe. Of course, that was also because they had slipped into their little family routine, but on multiple occasions Beca had been aware that she didn’t want it to end, that she didn’t want Chloe to go back to her own apartment.

Beca wanted to slap herself for all these inappropriate thoughts. She had not really expected to fall in love, but now her stupid brain had put _Chloe_ in its wife department. Chloe, of all people, not some suitable candidate, who was at least gay, no her best and very straight friend, Chloe. Beca knew she had to talk to Chloe, but she couldn’t do it now, could she? If it made Chloe want to leave, she would basically be kicking the redhead to the curb. She made up her mind, she would talk to Chloe, as soon as her apartment was done. She owed it to her best friend.

And on the other side there was the meetings she had with the director of the New York studio. When she worked in New York, she had used her own voice for demos from time to time. When her boss had heard those demos, he had on multiple occasions tried to convince her to record your own music. That's why there was an option in her current contract to take time to record her own work with the label. In their last meeting he had asked whether she had already made progress on her own album. So far Beca hadn't been too keen to record some of her own songs, she was confident about her music writing skills but she had not found inspiration for good lyrics for a time. Recently she had made some scribbles again and was actually looking forward to taking this new step. She was still scared as hell though, but to create something that was 100% hers seemed wonderful.

Beca’s thoughts settled and she knew she could only hope for the best…On both fronts…


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe's got some news, and so has Beca...

After Chloe and David had picked Beca up from the airport, they had spent the evening together. Chloe had made a wonderful home cooked meal, because she believes Beca would have eaten more than enough junk food during her stay in New York. After that there had indeed been a movie night. David had been excited to have Beca back. He sure had missed her, but he had also viewed his time with Chloe as an adventure, so Beca was briefed on every detail of it, even though their time together had mainly consisted of day-to-day activities. When David is finally worn out, Chloe puts him to bed.

 

“Finally, a moment of peace and quiet” Beca says when Chloe returns.

 

Chloe huffs and says: “You could have stayed in New York if you are tired of us.”

 

Beca laughs at Chloe’s response.

 

“Come here”, Beca says and pulls Chloe against her on the couch.

“I missed you both very much. Here, I got you a little something to thank you for everything.”, she says as she presented Chloe with a gift box.

 

Chloe opens the box and finds the bracelet. She is wowed by the simple beauty of it.

 

“Oh, Becs, it’s too much..”

 

Beca kisses the red curls. “No it’s not, it’s not about the money. But even if it were, I have way more money than I can ever spend. I like to spoil you sometimes. Better you than David, he doesn’t have to become a spoiled kid.”

 

Chloe is silent.

 

“And that’s the last I want to hear of it. Now tell me about the time you two have had without me.”

 

Chloe doesn’t have to tell her about all they did after David’s detailed account. She simply tells Beca that she loved it, and she means it. After a little hesitation, she also tells her about the conversation with the principal.

 

Beca notices the worried tone in Chloe’s voice. “I know how much your job means to you. I promise we’ll be more careful.”

 

Chloe sighs and leans back against Beca, feeling the comfortable warmth of the little brunette.

 

* * *

 

As the days passed and the new workweek came around, Chloe noticed a change in Beca's behavior. She spent more days coming home late, or, if Chloe couldn't watch David after school, go back out when David was asleep staying out till well into the night. She claimed she was at work, but on the other hand, before she left for NY she had just claimed that things were smoothing out. Chloe was a bit suspicious, Beca never kept stuff from her…

Beca was in her studio working on some ideas for songs. She wanted to get this album started, line up a couple of songs to get most of the album ready before showing it to anyone, just to prove to herself that it was a good idea. If she had those few songs, she would probably tell Chloe, and then Emily if she came by next time, she could probably even help with some songs Beca wasn’t sure about.

* * *

Friday pizza nights had become sort of a tradition in their household. Beca went out this time to get the pizza’s from the place down the street. When she comes is she dumps the boxes on the living room table and they dig in. For a while there is a silence as they all have attacked their pizza, when Chloe has finished her second slice she speaks up:

 

“Beca, my landlord called today, my apartment will be done in one to one and a half week. They had to replace all pipes, and now they will put in new floors and repaint some of the walls.”

 

Beca needs to focus on not choking on her pizza. This meant two things. One, she wouldn’t have Chloe around anymore, at least not all the time and second, she had no excuse left not to tell her the truth. She swallows and replies:

 

“Oh, okay, that’s good news right?”

 

“Yeah, I guess so”

 

Chloe wasn’t too keen on being by herself in her apartment again. She was going to miss those two dorks that made her days just that little bit brighter. In her mind she was coming up with a list of excuses already to come over as often as she could. She was pulled from her thoughts by little David.

 

“Chloe, if you won’t live here anymore, can I come over to your place for a sleepover?”

 

“Sure, my little man.”

 

“Great”, he smiles, “can mom come too?”

 

Both women laugh out loud at that.

 

“Nah, your mom is no fun” Chloe replies teasingly, but quickly adjusts her answer as David’s expression suddenly changes to one of deep disappointment.

 

Knowing that they’ll still be fine and that Chloe still wants to be a part of their lives comforts Beca, but there is that one other thing at the back of Beca’s mind. She is not quite sure how, or when, she will deal with that.

* * *

On Monday Chloe comes home from school and she can hear Beca playing her guitar in the living room. Chloe doesn't know the song. Quietly she approaches not to interrupt Beca.

_We got the upper hand_  
A random set of people  
Such very close friends  
How lucky we are  
  
And it's a strange life  
It's a great ride  
  
There's a light that you don't see  
You're the light that shines on me  
We got everything we need  
To make this work.

When Beca finishes the song she looks up and sees Chloe standing there. Chloe looks caught and mumbles an apology.

Beca replies: “It’s okay, Chloe, I meant to talk to you today anyway.”

 

“What is it? Are you seeing someone?”

 

“What?! No? Why would you think that?” Beca is confused.    

 

“Well, you were away for a lot of late nights, and your mood seemed changed..”

 

Beca holds out her hand and pulls Chloe next to her on the couch.

 

“Oh no Chloe, I should have told you, since you always believed in me and supported me and all that, but I just wasn’t sure. But… the thing is… I’m going to record my own album, with my own songs, lyrics, music, voice, everything.”

 

Chloe stays silent.

 

“So, ehrm, I guess I am going to be a recording artist?” Beca tries again.

 

This time Chloe launches herself at Beca, tears in her eyes.

 

“Oh Becs, you’ll be amazing”, comes a muffled voice from somewhere around Beca’s shoulder.

 

“So you’re not mad I kept this from you?”

 

Truth be told, she was just glad that Beca wasn’t seeing anyone. And she knew Beca had kept this from her, not because she didn’t want her to know, but because she wanted a little certainty first.

 

“No, I’ll start to get mad at you when you’ll make it big in the music industry and forget all about me”, Chloe teases the short brunette.

 

“You know I already made it big in the industry, right?” Beca boasts, which earns her a slap with a cushion from Chloe. She gets up to put her guitar away so she can defend herself properly. The two girls a so emerged in their pillow fight that they do not notice little David approaching.

 

“Mommy, Chloe, fighting is not nice.”

 

Both girls turn their heads to the boy as Beca swoops him up in between them on the couch. As if of one mind they start to tickle him until he begs for mercy and all three of them fall back onto the couch out of breath from all the giggles.

 

‘This’, Beca thinks, ‘is how it’s supposed to be.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song lyrics are from Douwe Bob - How Lucky we are
> 
> Again, sorry for late post. Major deadline before Christmas and several coming up in January :( All comments and kudos for the last chapter were great! Thanks everyone!
> 
> Status of the story: Next two chapters are written, but some plot holes need fixing. End of the story is near, still thinking of how to wrap it up... And after that, maybe I'll make it a series, I have a growing feeling there is more to them than I planned. Or I'll write a different fic for another idea I've had.. Or take a break idk.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First a WARNING ahead: There is some mild homophobia in this chapter. I know that for some people there is no such thing as "mild" homophobia. So if it is a trigger for you, please skip the scene I put in between two lines of asterixes. To follow the rest of the story I'll tell you that it is this scene involves the dad from the scene earlier in the chapter and that his comments cause Chloe to feel hurt and intimidated, wanting to leave the place. (Idk if it's a problem for any of my readers, but better safe than sorry, right?)
> 
> So this chapter is really the start of the end. It basically revolves around an incident at David's school and a girls night out...

Beca has just shown one of her clients out when she feels her phone buzz.

 

Chloe 2:30PM Hey Becs, please call me ASAP

 

Beca immediately picks up the phone, worried about David. It takes a while for Chloe to pick up, and from her hushed tone Beca gathers she has just stepped outside her classroom.

 

"Hey Chlo, what's wrong?"

 

"Uhm, David has been in a fight. According to school policy both parents need to come to school and talk about it."

 

" Uhm, okay… what happened?"

 

"We think another boy bullied him and he reacted violently... But he won't talk to me anymore...suddenly he shut himself off completely... Becs, please come and talk to him. Then we can figure out what happened before the other parents come to talk."

 

"Okay, I'm on my way."

 

When Beca reaches the school, Chloe lets Beca into a small room.

 

"Beca, in the meantime I've talked to some other kids and they tell me he was being bullied about his family, but they didn't really know details... I'll get David" she says and leaves the room.

 

When Chloe returns with David, the boy rushes over to his mother, who draws him tight to her, comforting him.

 

"Okay, I'll leave you guys to it." Chloe says.

 

"No", comes a muffled cry from Beca's chest, "please stay"

 

"Can you?" Beca looks up to Chloe.

 

"Yeah, I left the kids with an assignment and one of the supporting staff is looking after them."

 

Chloe comes closer and sits next to Beca.

 

"Okay, can you tell us what happened?" Beca asks as she moves David in her lap, so they can talk.

 

"We were outside... and Jake came and he said really mean things. He said that nobody loved me... Cause I only had a weird mom. And... and I was really hurt, cause it isn't true right?" He said, looking up to Beca, who nodded at him, before he continues. "And I told him I have Jesse...and Stacie... And Emily...and I have my moms."

 

Beca and Chloe's eyes shoot up to meet in shock. But David just continues.

 

"And they said that that wasn't real and I said it was, cause Jesse is like... an uncle and Stacie is like my aunt and Emily always says she is my big sis, but then Jake started singing ‘liar, liar’ and I kicked him. And he pushed me and I pushed back and tried to run, but he tripped me and then I called for Chloe, but I was confused, cause I was so sad, so I didn't say Ms Beale, but I said Mom, and all the other kids laughed again. I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad." David starts to sob again and pulls back against Beca.

 

"Hey, it's okay." Chloe says as she gently strokes his arm. "You were upset."

 

"But why did you say you have two moms?" Beca asks, afraid she already knows the answer.

 

"Well …" David starts "Chloe lives with us, right? And she makes me dinner, and breakfast and lunch. And when I'm sad she cuddles me. And when I was sick she took care of me too. And she puts me to bed. And she does so much more, like all stuff you do? And she loves us and we love her, right? So she is like my mom too?" He finishes hesitantly. “But I wasn’t going to tell _them_ it’s Ms Beale..” he adds.

 

"Oh that's so sweet" Chloe answers and Beca looks at her with disbelief.

 

Beca then speaks up and says: " I guess what you're saying about Chloe is true, but technically she’s not…"

 

Then there is a knock on the door and the principal announces that he sent her class home and that Jake's father is here. Chloe thanks him and tells him they'll be out in a minute.

 

"Okay, David we'll talk about this later. You go home with Jesse, and we will see you there okay?"

 

"Chlo, I'll go talk to Jesse and tell him to go ahead to the apartment and that we'll join him later. Did I forget to tell you he was taking David for the weekend?" Beca asks as she sees the puzzled look on Chloe’s face.

 

Beca quickly rushes outside and hands a confused Jesse her keys and tells him to take David and go to the apartment.

 

To her surprise the redhead is waiting for her in the hallway.

 

"Look Chlo, I'm sorry for this mess."

 

Chloe quickly squeezes Beca's hand "Don't worry, it will be fine. It happens more often that kids call their teachers mom."

 

They enter the meeting room where Jake's father is already waiting for them. Beca recognizes him as they guy that was bothering Chloe at the first concert, and she is already annoyed. He introduces himself as Mr Adams. Both women shake his hand and they sit down around the table.

 

"So," Chloe starts, "you're both here, because there has been an incident involving your sons. According to school policy, we sit down the parents of both kids to talk about the incident, so they can discuss it with them as well. The case is that your kids were in a fight on the school yard this afternoon."

 

"A fight?! You mean my son was attacked by that brat of hers." Mr Adams yells pointing at Beca.

 

Beca feels her anger rising, and she is impressed by Chloe who remains calm and professional.

 

Chloe interrupts him: "We have indications that the incident started after Jake made some remarks that were hurtful to David."

 

"So, you're saying he asked for it?! That's completely ridiculous, this is a disgrace, I'm going to .." 

 

"Mr Adams, calm down. We are going to have an adult conversation here, I will not have you yelling. I'm not trying to defend the fact that David reacted violently, that is still unacceptable. Bullying on the other hand, is also not tolerated in this school." Chloe interrupts him.

 

Mr Adams sinks back in his chair and sighs: "Look, I’m sorry Ms Beale, it is just, it's so stressful being a single parent. And it's hard on Jake too, ever since his mother left us for someone else, he has trouble making sense of it all and he can be a little unpredictable..."

 

Beca gets what he is trying to do and it makes her blood boil. Until now she had managed to keep her cool surprisingly well, but now she lashes out:

 

"So if it is all so hard on your kid, having only one parent and all, he should definitely have known better than to bully another child for having only a mom.."

 

Under the table she feels Chloe's hand on her arm and it has the desired effect. She calms down and mumbles an apology.

 

Chloe takes control over the conversation again: "Okay, I think it doesn't really matter what exactly was said and done. We can all agree that both boys were wrong in what they did. If you will talk to them about it over the weekend, I will sit them down on Monday to apologize. Agreed?"

 

Both parents agree and shake hands again as a sign of agreement and that the meeting is over. 

 

Mr Adams lingers to try to get Chloe alone. Beca notices this and hurries out of the building. Once she is in the parking lot she calls Chloe.

 

Chloe was still inside, slightly pissed at Beca for leaving her with that creep. Then she hears her phone ring, and she smiles when she sees the caller ID. Quickly she picks up, pretending to be called about an emergency she rushes out leaving Mr Adams behind.

 

She finds Beca in the parking lot at her car. Not to be seen by anyone around they get into the car and drive off. 

 

"Thanks for the ride, I had to give my car to Jesse, he had no car here to take David home."

 

"It's okay, I think no one saw us."

 

"Hey, I want to apologize for this mess. I couldn't forgive myself if I got you in trouble at work. I mean, I know how much you love that job. I should have seen that this would get messy... confusing..."

 

"Beca, I don't blame you. I should have seen it coming too... Remember last week, when David fell asleep on the couch and I carried him to his bed? He called me 'mom' then. I didn't see any harm in that, I thought he was just sleepy or something... But it happened again in the beginning of the week. I should have told you."

 

"It's fine, I probably would have shared your opinion back then. But after today... I need time to think, and I want to talk to you about it, and we definitely need to talk to him about it."

 

After a moment of silence Beca says: "Chlo, Jesse is taking David until Sunday afternoon. We have the whole weekend to ourselves, what do you want to do?"

 

"Oh shit, Becs, I forgot about this weekend. Aubrey is back from Europe for a week. I agreed to go shopping with her on Saturday to catch up. But we can do stuff tonight and tomorrow night too if you like?"

 

"Oh, it's great that Aubrey is back, how long has she been in Europe?"

 

"Almost a year now, I missed her like crazy."

 

"Well, I hope you have fun tomorrow. Let's go out tonight and we'll see about tomorrow night, if you want you can make plans with her too, I understand."

 

"Thanks"

 

They sit in silence for the rest of the drive, incidentally singing along to the radio. 

 

When they get home they find Jesse and David waiting for them. Beca greets both with a kiss on the cheek. Jesse awkwardly shakes Chloe's hand and David gives her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

 

"Look, Beca, it's getting late, and I want to take David out for pizza before heading to my apartment.  We'll talk on Sunday."

 

“Apartment? I thought you were staying at a hotel?”

 

“Well, uhm, yeah, I got an offer to stay at a friend’s apartment. Way more convenient. But we really have to go now.”

 

"Yeah, okay, that's fine. His bag is already in the hallway." she tells Jesse, then she turns to David and says: "Right little man, be nice to Jesse. Behave and don't let him feed you too much candy or popcorn. Have fun!"

 

When they have said goodbye and the two boys are out the door. Beca says: "Hey, what do you say? How about we order some takeout and get ready for a girls' night out afterwards?"

 

"Sounds good, what about Chinese?"

 

"Sounds great, I'll call them."

 

Beca calls in their usual order and while they wait for the food to arrive, they watch some TV, not really feeling like talking as both process the events of the day.

 

They had chosen a bar where there was live music and dancing on Friday nights, but that wasn't so loud that they couldn't talk anymore. After a few drinks they had danced a while and now they were sitting in a booth, both sipping from a bottle of beer.

 

The girls chatted a bit about all sorts of things, until Chloe drops a question:

 

"Hey Becs, I was watching you and Jesse, and you still seem very comfortable around each other. What made you think that you guys couldn't make it work?"

 

"Well, for starters, our careers were taking us in different directions, geographically, but what was probably most important, although I didn't realize that part until much later, is that Jesse isn't a girl..." Beca grins, feeling brave on liquid courage.

 

Chloe was about to take another swig of her beer when the brunette dropped that last sentence. The surprise of what she just heard caused her jaw to drop and she tilts her bottle before it reached her mouth, spilling a large gulf of beer on her pants.

 

"Woah, Beale, you seem to have missed your mouth there, even though you opened it far enough." Beca teases.

 

"Well, you can't just drop stuff like that on people, Mitchell, we definitely need to talk about that. But I want to clean myself up first." Chloe returns the teasing.

 

She gets up to the bathrooms and leaves Beca behind in the booth. In the bathroom she uses paper towels to absorb as much of the beer as possible. When she can't get it any dryer she takes of her (well, Beca's) plaid shirt and ties it around her waist, so that the sleeves cover most of the stain.

                                                                                                                                                                                 

 ******************

 

When Chloe makes her way back through the crowd she suddenly feels a hand on her wrist. She turns around and looks straight into the face of a clearly intoxicated Mr Adams.

 

"Ms Beale, how lovely to see you here. I want to apologize again. I talked with Jake and explained him it's not okay to fight. It won't happen again."

 

"Okay, that's good, Mr Adams." Chloe says as she tries to get out of his grip.

 

"Like I said before, please call me Will. And can I offer you a drink?" He says with that sleazy grin of his on his face.

 

"No thanks, Mr Adams. Like I said before, I prefer to keep a professional relationship with all parents."

 

She feels his grip tighten and the grin disappears.

 

"You think I didn't see you earlier, with the mom of the brat that kicked my son?"

 

Chloe feels a pain in her chest and she tries to pull away from him, but he only pulls her closer.

 

"You aren't one of them filthy dykes, are you? I can totally see her being one, but it would be such a waste of a pretty girl like you.." He slurs.

 

Chloe is torn between crying and punching the guy. Luckily she feels him release his grip as more and more people start looking at them. Quickly she moves away from him making her way back to Beca, she needs to get out of here.

 

**************

 

The brunette was just starting to worry as she sees Chloe approaching. She likes the look of her in a tank top showing off her toned arms with her waving red hair. But as she came closer, Beca could see a storm in those blue eyes, and something felt off, causing a knot in her stomach.

 

"Come on Beca, let's go somewhere else", Chloe says, pulling her up from her seat.

 

Beca tries to ask what's wrong, but Chloe refuses to answer and pulls her to a club a little down the street. The music here is much louder and talking is nearly impossible. So when they get to the bar and Chloe orders four shots, Beca is still not able to get Chloe to talk to her. Instead Chloe makes her down two of the shots, and pulls her to dance floor. Chloe doesn't dance with Beca, like they did before, but just seems to loose herself completely in the deep bass beats. More shots and more dancing follow until they are almost too drunk to stand. Beca somehow manages to get both of them in a cab and home.

 

In the morning Beca wakes up with a giant headache and some alcohol induced memory loss. Immediately closing her eyes again, she turns over to her other side and stretches out an arm to pull Chloe close. Instead of the warm body of the redhead, she finds the bed beside her empty and cold. Beca is immediately wide awake as memories of last night start coming back. 'She told Chloe she was into girls.. Chloe had excused herself and when she came back she acted all weird.. .and she had been cuddling with her all the time... and sleeping in the same bed...of course Chloe thought she was a perv and she couldn't blame her...She knew this would happen."


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after last night...

Slowly she gets up and makes her way to the kitchen to get a bottle of water.

 

She opens the fridge and jumps when she hears Chloe's voice.

 

"Hey Becs, you're up."

 

Chloe's voice sounds remarkably positive and Beca is totally confused.

 

"Chlo, you're still here..."

 

"Of course I am"

 

"But I thought you bolted, your side of the bed was empty..."

 

“Yeah, in the bar I ran into Mr. Adams, and it was very unpleasant, and with everything else, I was a bit overwhelmed. I may not have handled it the best way… I’m sorry. But I’m okay now, I needed a bit of space.” Chloe sighs. "Luckily a night of sleep and a morning run always help me sort things in my head. But, Becs, I'm not getting back in your bed before you take me out on me a proper date first", Chloe says pointing at the pile of bedding on the couch.

 

Beca's jaw drops and her eyes widen. "You want me to do what? You ... want to date ... me?!"

 

"Yeah, I've been waiting for this moment for over a decade now. Actually I thought I wouldn't live to see this day. But now that it's totally back on the table: you, me, date, tonight." Chloe winks.

 

"But..."

 

"We will talk tonight. Text me the details." Chloe comes over and kisses Beca's cheek. "Gotta go. I'm meeting Aubrey and I'm already late. And you know…" And she is out the door, leaving Beca dumbstruck in the kitchen.

 

Beca is not sure she is exaggerating if she’d claim she has been in the same spot for at least fifteen minutes. When she’s finally reconfigured her senses, she gets dressed quickly, she needs to start arranging the perfect date.

She sends Chloe a text telling her to be home around half past six. She has already arranged table in one of Atlanta’s best restaurants. She had asked for them to be seated in a side room where they could have an intimate dinner by the fire place. To make sure everything is in order Beca heads to the restaurant to meet Chloe there.

When Chloe comes home from her day at the mall she finds a note on the kitchen counter. ‘A cab will pick you up at seven. Wear something pretty ;)’ Chloe smiles and quickly goes to change herself. She opts for a new night blue dress that she had bought today. She wears the bracelet Beca gave her with it. At seven Chloe is already waiting by the door when the cab comes to pick her up.

The dinner is perfect, they talk out how they had been oblivious to the extent of their feelings for so long. There are no accusations, the girls just laugh at all the memories of the two of them that should maybe have opened their eyes.

 

“You know, Chloe, I’m just happy that you were able to forgive me. That you were able to move past what had happened. I wanted to get back in touch with you, but I was too scared I wouldn’t be able to explain it all. I never knew how to put words to what we had. That scared me and when I knew I liked women… I don’t know, what I felt for you still didn’t compare to what I have ever felt for any other woman. Not just loving you more, but different, more complete. I was scared, Chlo.”

 

“I understand, Beca, how you must have felt. Since the day I met you, you were special to me. I felt drawn to you in some inexplicable way. To be honest, in college I sometimes contemplated if there was more between us than friendship. Sometimes I wanted to take you on a romantic date to see what happened, but I didn’t want to risk what we had. Although, I almost kissed you at aca-initiation night.”

 

“I wonder what would have happened if you did…”

 

“Then we probably wouldn’t have been here, you would probably have made a run for it.”

 

“Yeah, that on top of the shower incident…”

 

“Actually I am surprised your eyes weren’t opened back then.” Chloe jokes.

 

“Hey”, Beca playfully slaps Chloe’s arm.

 

“Well, I was pretty confident about all this, still am.”

 

“Weirdo.”, and Beca leans in without thinking and places her lips on Chloe’s.

 

For a moment Chloe gasps, but soon she kisses back deepening the kiss. After kissing for a while, Beca pulls back and says: “Let’s finish here and go home.”

 

The girls leave the restaurant and get into a cab. On the ride home the girls play with each other’s hands in silence. Beca breaks the silence by asking: “What happened yesterday with Mr. Adams, can you talk to me about it? You really got me worried…”

 

“Well, I got up to clean my pants, remember? I tried to play it cool after your coming out, but actually my head was spinning, so I used that excuse to buy me time to think. I loved you, Becs, have for so long, and your confession, it made me doubt. Why not me? How long had you known? I mean I can kinda see your side of it now, but yeah, you know me. I tend to..”

 

Beca places a kiss on Chloe’s hand that is intertwined with hers and whispers: “It’s okay, I get it. We can talk about that later, please tell me about last night.”

 

“So when I got back from the bathroom, he, Mr Adams, gripped my arm from behind. I didn’t see him coming. His entire body language was already so intimidating. And then he started saying nasty things about you, about us. His homophobia made me sick and made me want to punch him at the same time. It was all too much… and I dealt with it poorly. I know I should have talked to you or anything, but I still didn’t know where we stood…” Chloe falls silent.

 

“But you didn’t leave me there, that means something, right?” Beca says

 

“Yeah, and you stayed by me and put up with all my crazy. That means something too, right?”

 

“I think it means we are a good thing, always have been. You made me so much better, Chlo. Your presence, everything about you has always been so comfortable. You were literally the only person I let close enough to do that to me.”

 

Shortly after they arrive at the apartment. Beca has just managed to pull the key out of the lock, when Chloe reconnects their lips. They stumble into the living room where they collapse onto the couch. Beca places her lips on Chloe’s, hungrily her tongue roams Chloe’s bottom lip. Her hands brush along Chloe’s sides and Chloe’s hand is on the back of Beca’s neck pulling her closer, with the other running up her back. They continue their make out session like that, with no one taking the initiative to take it any further. Both want to, but both are scared to ruin it. Beca somehow still can’t believe it’s happening, and Chloe is a little hesitant, because she thinks Beca might be inexperienced. Chloe breaks the kissing and asks: “Becs, take me to bed?”

Beca pulls Chloe up from the couch and takes her by the hand to the bedroom. She takes her other hand too and pulls them backwards onto the bed. Chloe firmly straddles Beca’s hips and their hands continue their exploration as their lips have reconnected. Chloe’s hand slips under Beca’s shirt, sliding up against the bare skin till she reaches the fabric of the brunette’s bra.

Beca lets out a disgruntled moan at that. Chloe shoots up, breaking the kiss.

 

“Becs, I’m sorry.”

 

“Nothing’s wrong, that dress of yours just isn’t fair. I can’t reach anything.” Beca smirks.

 

Chloe laughs getting up from the bed and pulling her dress off in one fluid motion. Beca follows her suit, stripping herself of her own upper layers.

The two girls stand there for a moment eyeing each other, until Beca takes charge and flips them onto the bed. After pressing a short kiss to Chloe’s lips she travels with her lips down her cheek and neck, gently brushing aside the red locks. Chloe’s nails sink into Beca’s back as the other girl grazes her collar bone with her teeth.

When the tiny brunette’s hands start palming her breasts, even over the fabric, Chloe starts to whimper. Beca reaches her hand around her back to remove the bra to give her better access, and in the same action she removes her own. Beca leans back down and places her lips around Chloe’s hard nipple, gently sucking and licking.

When Chloe feels Beca’s teeth move to her other nipple, a hand squeezing her other breast and chocolate locks brushing her skin, she is not sure how much longer she’ll last. She decides to take control and flips them over.

Her mouth moves over the skin of Beca’s neck and shoulders as she places her leg between those of Beca, gently applying pressure. Beca arches off the bed into Chloe’s body, sliding her hands from Chloe’s side to her ass gripping it firmly.

 

“Chloe, please, I want you..”

 

“What do you want, Becs?” Chloe teases.

 

“I need you to… to touch me. Touch me, Chlo.”

 

Chloe shifts a little so that she can pull down Beca’s underwear. With the piece of cloth out of the way, Chloe slides her hand from Beca’s pelvis to her thigh and back up along the inside. She can already feel Beca’s arousal when she slips her fingers between her folds. First she presses one finger inside Beca, and as she hears the other woman moan she adds another.

She takes back her position between Beca’s legs, settling into a rhythm, busying her mouth on Beca’s neck again. She feels nails digging into her scalp. It doesn’t take long for the girl to come undone under her hands.

After helping Beca ride out her high, she moves back up pressing a kiss to the brunette’s lips wrapping herself to her side.

Beca starts to stroke Chloe’s hair, peppering kisses along her jaw line moving down her neck. Gently she rolls the redhead over, seating herself on the other girls hips and continuing her trail down Chloe’s body with her mouth and putting her palms on Chloe’s breasts.

Beca moves further down, grazing Chloe’s abs with her teeth and sucking at that spot just above her hip bone. As she slides her fingers under the rim of Chloe’s panties, she looks up at Chloe who gives a silent nod. Upon that sign Beca takes the garment off. Moving back up her legs, she parts Chloe’s legs placing one hand around her thigh and the other one under her ass.

The teasing of Beca’s mouth on the inside of her thighs makes Chloe squirm, impatiently she presses up her hips to urge Beca to move on. Beca takes her hand from the leg and uses it to part Chloe’s lips, dragging her tongue trough the slick folds. Beca takes her time, paying close attention to all small signals of the redhead, keeping her just on the brink. Moving her hand to Chloe’s breast rolling the nipple between her thumb and fingers and sucking on her clit she finally sends Chloe over the edge.

 

“Fuck, Becs, that was...” Chloe pants, as she just lays there unable to move.

Beca lies down next to Chloe, kissing her softly.

They lay for a while caressing and kissing until Chloe falls asleep. Beca lies there listening to the steady breathing coming from beneath the red curls sprawled out on her chest. Calmed by the rhythm of Chloe’s breathing Beca too falls into a state of deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the bed scene was like the hardest thing for me to write, not my strong suit... Please forgive me :( At least they got together :)
> 
> But we are coming to an end, after this only two chapters left.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first new chapter in forever. Life got in the way, and I've been working on the ending to get closure on things you've indicated to want closure on. Next chapter may or may not take a while again, but here's a little something at least.
> 
> It's the morning after and Beca and Chloe wake in the same bed...

When Chloe wakes up, Beca is sitting at the headboard with her knees pulled to her chest and a worried look on her face. When she sees that the redhead has opened her eyes, she says:

 

“Shit, Chloe what have we done?”

 

“Well, I don’t know about you, but as I remember, I had a wonderful date and then some incredible sex with an amazing girl.” Chloe says with a wide grin as she props herself up on an elbow.

 

“Chlo, how can you not be freaking out right now?” Beca says as she shifts folding her legs under her.

 

“Why would I freak out right now?” Chloe returns while she strokes Beca’s leg.

 

“So what is supposed to happen right now? I mean, we can’t be together, like, really together, right?”

 

“Beca, I don’t know how long you’ve been sitting there, and what has got into that head of yours, but I think we deserve a chance.” Chloe is now sitting up, wrapped in the sheets, gently stroking Beca’s hair.

 

“That’s it, Chlo, a chance, try, we can’t do that. We’re best friends again, finally. I have David to think of too. He is already attached to you, we can’t make this some experiment. If it fails, there is no coming back from for any of us, I fear.”

 

“I didn’t mean it like that, Becs, not some experiment. I can’t give you any guarantees, no one ever can, but I promise you that I will do everything within my power to make you happy, and to help you achieve anything you want, support you in raising David. This is still us. Us, but better if you ask me.”

Chloe is silent for moment and then adds “I would even have wanted to stay for that weird friendship-roommate situation which stretches the borders of platonic that we had going."

 

"Seriously?" Beca asks full of disbelief.

 

"Yeah Becs, just being around you, being with your little family is the only thing that made me happy in a long time. Being with you like this makes me the happiest I've ever been. Although it has never been about this", Chloe gestures to their bodies and the bed, “It has always been about us, about our love, in whatever way we shaped it, however we called it”. Chloe pushes a strand of hair behind Beca’s ear. “And I’m not going to let you give that up again. So what this is, I'll leave it up to you, but you won't be able to get rid of me again.”

 

“But don’t you worry? I mean, I trust you, but there are so many issues that can come between us. I mean my job, it’s pretty demanding, even though it’s better than it used to be. I can’t promise I will always have time for you, and you’ll often have to share with David. And what about your job? Don’t you remember what the principal said? I don’t want to be the reason you lose your dream job and hate me for it.”

 

When Beca brings up the topic of Chloe’s work, the redhead’s smile fades. It was not that she hadn’t considered it, and to be honest, she was worried too. But to see Beca concerned over all the little aspects of their lives and willing to put all that first, instead of love, it broke her heart. Of course, Chloe knew where Beca was coming from, she couldn’t imagine what it’s like to grow up in a broken home. So she swallows and says:

 

“I do worry about that too, I really do. It’s an amazing job. But it’s not worth letting you go for it. Yes, I might lose my job, but I won’t be unemployed forever, I’ll probably find something new, plus I will have this wonderful girlfriend who will support me in everything I do. And on top of that, if they fire me, because I found love, they’re a bunch of dicks anyway.”

 

Beca’s heart had stopped and her stomach had summersaulted when Chloe had so casually used the word ‘girlfriend’ to refer to whatever it was that could be between them.

 

“And I don’t worry about your job, Becs, the drive and passion for music and to become a producer is one of the things that I always admired most in you. I know there will be nights when you aren’t home, out with some clients, days where you are stressing about upcoming deadlines, but as long as you slip into bed with me at night after and we will lay here together, I know we can get through those days too.

I know you worry about David too. We haven’t talked about this at all, but I assume the fact that you have a son already has been an issue in your previous relationships?”

 

“Yeah, raising someone else’s kid isn’t very appealing to most.”

 

“But Becs, I’d be helping you raise your kid, and I would love to, because I love you. And maybe I’m biased, because I already know him so well, but he’s pretty awesome.”

 

Beca is softly sobbing, moved by Chloe's words, and Chloe shifts so she can pull her against her chest. Rubbing soothing circles on the girl’s back, Chloe sits there patiently waiting.

 

“Chlo, I trust you, and I want to make you happy too. But I can’t promise I’ll never freak out again.”

 

“I know, Beca, and I might freak out sometimes too, just so you know.”

 

Chloe’s last answer causes both girls to giggle and break the embrace. Beca presses a sloppy kiss to Chloe’s lips and presses their foreheads together. They sit like that for a while, just looking into each other’s eyes.

 

The total lack of awkwardness in the moment and the way Chloe had read Beca’s mind, calmed the raging thoughts in Beca’s head. In a moment of clearness and bravery she opens her mouth and says:

 

“So if I can’t change your mind at all: Chloe Beale, will you be my girlfriend?”

 

“You’re such a romantic, but: Yeah Beca Mitchell, I’d love to be your girlfriend.”

 

They share a long and passionate kiss and slide back under the covers holding each other close.

\---

  
“Aubrey is coming by later”, Chloe announces after they have been lying next to each other for a while.

 

“What have you told her about us?”

 

“Nothing”

 

“Nothing, as in ‘nothing about possible feelings and dates and such’ or nothing as in ‘forgot to mention I ran into Beca again’?” Beca checks, because she knows that look on Chloe’s face.

 

“The latter”

 

“You let her come to my apartment and you haven’t even mentioned me? That’s going to be interesting…”

 

“Well, Bree and I don’t really talk talk that much anymore, it’s more text and emails these days, but that didn’t seem the right way to tell her. I was going to tell her yesterday, but I got the feeling she was also hiding something from me, so I was too busy investigating.”

 

“Yeah, right, so Sherlock, have you found out what she’s hiding?”

 

“I think she’s met someone in Europe.”

 

“Why would she keep that from you?”

 

“I don’t know, maybe he’s famous, or, oooh no, maybe he’s royalty. They totally have that in Europe right?” Chloe gets a little excited

 

“Or he’s with the mafia, they have that in Europe too.” Beca offers. “Where in Europe was she again?”

 

“Oh, she’s been setting up lodges in various countries, but the last thing I heard she was in Paris.”

 

“Well we’ll probably find out soon enough. What time will she get here?”

 

“At twelve.”

 

“Well then you better hurry, because it’s a quarter to twelve now. And if I remember correctly a Posen is never late.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aubrey comes over, and both Chloe and Aubrey have some news for each other..

Chloe had been getting dressed, but now she finds herself straddling the brunette, kissing her neck when the doorbell rings. Quickly putting on sweats and a shirt she goes to open the door.

"Sorry Bree, I overslept a little, but come in." Aubrey gives Chloe a suspicious look and follows her to the living room.

 

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll get us some coffee."

 

When Chloe disappears into the kitchen, Aubrey takes a look around the room.

 

"Wow, Chloe, this is a change from your old apartment. You even have a grand piano... And a record collection that would make Beca Mitchell jealous..."

 

Chloe hears her friend's comments and can't suppress a grin. 'If she only knew..' she thinks to herself.

 

Chloe comes back from the kitchen with two steaming cups of coffee. She and Aubrey settle on the couch, sipping their coffees.

 

"So, you had a date yesterday? By your total appearance I guess it was a long night? So does that mean it was a success?"

 

Chloe has been remarkably silent. Answering the question pretty vaguely, she tries not to give away too much, but her eyes sparkle.

 

"Yeah it went really well, great even, I guess"

 

"So what is he like? Is he tall, blonde and charming?"

 

"Well, it's more like she is short, dark and grumpy..."

 

Aubrey looks at Chloe furrowing her brow in confusion when she suddenly hears a familiar voice behind her.

 

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Beale."

 

"You know you love me."

 

Aubrey had turned her head to see where the voice was coming from and noticed that Beca had apparently just showered. Looking between the two women she asks:

 

"Chloe, you went on a date with Beca?

 

"Beca and I reconnected when she and David moved here from New York. Then my apartment building had some issues with the pipes and she let me stay with them. This is actually her apartment. It turned out, even though a lot has happened, little has changed between us. Until last night, that is.” Chloe says with a huge grin on her face.

 

Beca had walked over to where Chloe was sitting and placed herself on the arm rest, Chloe leaning against her upon which the brunette presses a kiss to her lips.

 

"David is my son, or as he has recently decided, our son." Beca clarifies for Aubrey, leaning down to press another kiss on her girlfriend’s head. Chloe’s heart jumps at this seemingly small remark. Beca adds to that answer by telling Aubrey the events of that Friday at school.

 

After a short silence Aubrey begins to laugh and says:

 

"Well, I can't say that we didn't see this coming, although most of us had given up hope by now. But that a four year old caught on before you guys is actually hilarious.”

 

Now it's Beca's turn to be confused.

 

"We?" She asks.

 

"Oh, yeah, the other Bellas have a poll going whether you two will get together each year. I should have been prepared when Legacy changed her bet to ‘definitely happening this year’. I am however a bit disappointed you didn’t tell me, Chloe. Now Emily is taking the jackpot home by herself."

 

Both roll their eyes at that, but decide to let it slide.

 

"Hey, can you two be nice for a while? I'm going to change quickly." Chloe says as she gets up.

 

"Take your time, babe." Beca replies.

  
  
"So..." Beca says turning to Aubrey "Let's hear it."

 

"You want the best friend speech?”

 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to rob you of that pleasure.”

 

“Look Becs, I know you and I know Chloe, and what you two have has always been special. So there is just one thing that I want to say, Beca. Just promise me that you won’t shut her out again, because the last time you did that you broke her heart. And promise that you’ll keep talking to her, when times get tough. If you do that, you’ll two will be able to make it through anything.”

 

“I promise, and Aubrey, thanks for being there for Chloe.”

 

Aubrey just simply shrugs.

 

“Aubrey, I need advice, and it’s kind of urgent…It’s something I can’t discuss with Chloe, but I really need to talk to someone about it. Would you hear me out?”

 

“I don’t know if I can help, but I can always listen.”

 

“It’s about David’s father. It's a bit of an unusual arrangement, I mean,he still sees David, but more like an uncle, but I always kept him at distance, because I'd rather do it alone than give this kid a broken home, but now it’s sort of like Chloe took his place, and I worry about his feelings…”

 

“The same thing I said before about talking to Chloe, applies actually to any of us. We are your friends, and Jesse may be hurt, but you can only make it worse by not talking.”

 

“How do you know it’s Jesse? Only four people beside me know, since we don’t want anyone to let it slip in front of him.”

 

Aubrey starts to massage the back of her neck before answering: “Chloe didn’t break your trust. Jesse told me, because ehm…we are in a relationship. When we came back here, he told me, because he’d be spending the weekend with David. I’ve met David on Saturday. He’s a great kid. But your secret is safe with me.”

 

“So how do you keep the wolves away? Or is it a rule that only applies when in active competition?“ Beca jokes to break the awkwardness and Aubrey laughs.

 

“No, but seriously, It’s weird, you with my ex, but I think you make an unexpected, but good paring. Take good care of him and be the woman for him that I could never be. Consider this my best friend speech.”Beca winks. “Have you told Chloe?”

 

“No, I planned on doing that today. Jesse was going to tell you today too.”

 

At that moment the bell rings. Chloe, who had just returned from getting dressed opens the door and is greeted by David and Jesse.

  
Jesse offers her a small smile and a “Hi”.

  
David on the other hand wraps himself around Chloe’s legs and exclaims: “Mommy!”

  
Chloe places her hand on the boys hair, while she gives Jesse her best apologetic look. Clearing her throat she says: “Please come in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you didn't like this pairing, but I'm convinced of my choice. It's just a side relationship, so please don't give up on the fic if you don't like it.
> 
> I have my reasons for it. One, I didn't want Jesse to be alone and I think they go together well. Second, I felt that if he was dating some outsider, it would give them a whole different outlook on this weird situation and Aubrey knows Beca and Chloe and can probably see why it works this way for them. The next chapters will see some developments which will probably makes it clearer, so stay tuned.
> 
> Also, good news:  
> 1) More chapters to this fic than promised   
> 2) Started on an "outline" for a sequel, can't say much about it yet, but it will be more anecdotal, since I hate writing fillers. And we'll be seeing more Bella's!  
> 3) I have a very exciting idea for a third part, but that's going to take a lot of time to put together, and I'm not sure it's entirely doable, but keeping track of ides for that one too.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long needed talk between Jesse and Beca....

Beca had in the meantime appeared in the doorway and witnessed the scene. She realises it’s probably best to bite the bullet, not wanting a scene later.

“Jesse, can we talk for a minute?”, she asks as she gestures for him to follow her through the kitchen unto the balcony. 

On their way out she briefly kisses David and tells him to go into the living room with Chloe.

Chloe ushers David into the living room. Leading David to the sitting area, she says:

“Come David, mom will be back after she has talked to Jesse. I'll introduce you to someone in the meantime. She is is my best friend from college, and just like mom and me she was in the Bellas too. Today she has come to visit me, and …”

“Aubrey!” David interrupts Chloe.

“Wait, how do you know her?” Chloe is confused.

“She is Jesse’s girlfriend. I met her Saturday, we had burgers together.”

“So, Bree, is there something you would like to tell me?” Chloe asks as she settles on the couch with David on her lap.

“I was in Europe just working most of the time, setting up the company. When I was in London, I got an invite to a charity dinner and I ran into Jesse there. And we went out a few times, we didn't call it ‘dates’, but when I relocated to Paris we stayed in touch. And from the way I missed him, I had to conclude that he was more than a welcome familiar face in a strange land. So I flew back to London when I could, and the rest is history.” Aubrey recounts.

“How long have you two been together?”

“Eight months or so.”

“And you didn't tell me?”

“Look who's talking.”

Chloe rolls her eyes at Aubrey, admitting her defeat.

“Can I tell you about my weekend now?” David asks.

“Sure, Let's hear it.” Chloe says, setting him more upright on her lap, and Aubrey moves closer to hear him better.

And David tells all about the weekend with Jesse.

 

On the balcony Beca isn't sure how to start, but Jesse can't hold back.

“What's this Beca, playing happy family here, are you?”, he snaps at the brunette.

"Okay, I should probably have given you a heads up about Chloe being here..."

"Yeah, you could have given me a heads up about all of this. How do you think I feel, Beca? You preferring to do it by yourself, yet here you are playing happy family with your girlfriend.”

"She wasn't my girlfriend... We just got back to being best friends.... It was only this weekend that we admitted it was more than that.”

Jesse doesn't respond.

"Jesse, I know you've always thought there was something more.... And I don't want to hurt you, but I'm starting to see you were probably right. You must know that I never had any real friends in high school and when I came to Barden I wasn't really looking or expecting to change that. But then there were these two amazing people, who just wouldn't be pushed away. This cute dorky boy with the extreme love of movies and acapella, and this gorgeous talkative redhead with no respect for personal boundaries and a possibly bigger love of acapella. I didn't really know what to do, I had never been in love before and always assumed I was straight, so I just put the wrong label on the wrong thing. If only I'd been more open to it back then, I could maybe have saved both of you so much pain. But now, after everything…Chloe came back into my life, and I suddenly saw it so clearly…" At this point Beca is already sobbing.

Jesse’s anger lowers when he sees how torn the brunette is. "Beca, I was there too. I can't put all the blame on you. If I really knew I should have let you go. But I think I was too stubborn, I always kept hoping.… Because you're amazing, Beca."

Jesse is silent for a moment, before he adds: "And something good came of it too. Look at our boy!"

Beca starts to laugh through her tears.

"Do you want to tell him?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Did I ever tell you why he started to call me mom, instead of Beca, like I taught him?"

Jesse shakes his head.

"Well, after one of his first days of school he came home, sad and almost crying. They had just learned about families and he was confused why he didn't have a mommy. So I explained that I was his mom, since I took care of him and all that. From that day he insisted on calling me mom. And it felt so great. I probably should have asked you about it back then too."

"But why now?"

“Because of Chloe, and what just happened. Him referring to her as his mom. He applied the same principle to her. We still need to talk to him about it, and now that Chloe and I are together, I would be sort of okay with it? But I worry about you, I always told you that I wanted to do this by myself and now it seems like Chloe is taking your place, I don’t know…I don’t want you to feel hurt.”

There is a silence in which neither of them really know what to say. Jesse feels his emotions calm, further, but it is Beca who finally breaks it:

“It’s just, even when Chloe just lived here temporarily it felt so good to do it together, to share all the things that come along with raising a child. And the two of them, they are really great together, from the first time Chloe came over. The three of us, it feels, I don't know, natural?”

“I see it, Beca.” Jesse says as he looks through the window at Chloe, who is sitting on the couch with David wrapped up in her lap. “I can’t say I’m not a little jealous, but I could never be here for him like you two can. The bond between the two of you is almost tangible. Even if we had done it together from the beginning… I see more and more why you feared that we would have gone sour. The UK job is treating me well, and even though David is simply amazing, forcing ourselves to be a family would have made us all unhappy. Just as long as you promise we’ll stick to the original plan of telling him when he’s old enough and letting me see him until then.”

“I promise.”

“And promise me you will never push Chloe away again.”

“I promise that too, although you’re doing it wrong. Your my best friend remember?”

Jesse shoots her a grin. “I just think you need this speech more.”

“Don’t worry, Aubrey already gave me mine.” Beca quips back and watches Jesse grow red.

“Yes, your girlfriend is here, she admitted it and I already fulfilled my duties as best friend.”

Jesse turns to look through the window again and can now see Aubrey who moved to the same couch Chloe is sitting on.

“Look at that Beca, your girlfriend and mine, together on the couch, who would have thought that?”

“I didn’t and honestly it weirds me out. I mean, because of you, us, but also were best friends dating two girls that are best friends too. I mean you have to agree it's at least a little weird.” 

“Yeah, before we know it were two old couples drinking wine on the veranda reminiscing about our glory days.”

“Dude, stop it.”

Jesse hugs her. “I'm sorry for snapping at you, I love our boy, and I miss him all the time. But it's best for him if you are happy, so I should be happy for you too. I can't expect you to be single for the rest of your life, of course someone was going to be part of your family one day. It's just…”

“The combination of everything, I know. And I should have kept you in the loop more, we’re supposed to be best friends, above all.” Beca says, squeezing Jesse tight for a moment.

“Let’s go back inside.”, Jesse says as he releases Beca.

 

As they step into the kitchen Beca tells Jesse to go ahead to the living room while she makes them a cup of coffee. 

After a little while Beca feels two arms around her waist and a chin in her neck.

“Good talk?”

“Yeah, he is unbelievable. Aubrey is a lucky woman.”

Chloe hums in agreement.

“We discussed the mom-thing. Of course he was hurt. But he doesn’t blame you, and he is happy for us. He understands the situation.”

Chloe releases her grip on Beca’s waist so they can face each other.

“You are staying, right? I sort of assumed you were. Or do you want to go back to your own apartment and see where we go from there?” Beca asks, suddenly fearing she’s going too fast.

“We may be girlfriends now, but you realise we’ve practically been wives for the past months? So if you are sure, I’d love to stay…Hey Becs… are you having second thoughts?”

“We only went on our first date yesterday…”

“Yeah, we’ve really been ticking the relationship boxes in the wrong order. But I’m kind of glad that we can skip that awkward get-to-know-each-other dating phase.”

“And the mom-thing?”

“Honestly? It freaks me out a little, but I’m honoured he sees me that way.”

At that moment Beca’s phone rings and an unknown number shows up on the screen. Beca picks up with a shrug.

“Beca Mitchell.”

“Hi Beca, it’s Alice, from school? I’m sorry to disturb you, but there is something you need to know. It’s something I’d rather not do over the phone, and I would like to show you something too. And it’s kind of urgent…Can I maybe come by your place?”

“Uhmm, I have some visitors over, but you can come now. I’ll text you the address” Beca is dying to find out what’s going on by now.

“Okay I’ll be there soon, and another thing: Can you call Ms Beale to see if she can be there too?”

“She’s here already.”

After hanging up the phone, Beca looks at Chloe’s with a fallen face and wide eyes.

“It was Alice, she’s coming over to show us something. She said it was urgent and it concerns you too. Fuck, they can’t already have found out, can they?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you may feel the development between Beca and Jesse is a bit quick, but Beca and Chloe are going to need their best friends...


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, here's another chapter, it's a short one, but I'll get back to my rhythm of posting once a week.

Alice had arrived about half an hour later with her son Ethan, so the boys could play together while the adults talked. Beca had sent them to David’s room with a promise of drinks and cookies later.

  
Jesse and Aubrey had offered to leave, but Beca had told them to stay. They were their best friends after all and Beca was preparing for the worst. After she had assured Alice that anything could be discussed in front of their best friends, Alice sat up straight at the edge of the couch and cleared her throat a few times before starting.

  
“Well, ehrm, this is awkward, I really don’t know how to tell you this, but I also didn’t want you to find out tomorrow at the start of your workday, so well, I’ll just show you…”

  
Alice took her phone and opened the photo gallery.

  
“These pictures were sent to all parents from your class, Ms Beale.”

  
There were pictures from Friday night, which looked pretty tame, according to Beca (compared to what they had been like in college), but as Alice continued to swipe through the pictures, there were some pictures of them entering the building after their date on Saturday, that were a lot less innocent.

  
Beca’s face had gone completely blank and Chloe was biting her lip. Their hands in between them on the couch had found each other and their fingers were now linked.

  
“That creep has been following us? What the fuck? I knew I never liked him.” Beca yells out.

  
Aubrey looks at Beca and asks: “Really Beca, that’s what you’re getting from this? Think about the consequences for Chloe.”

  
“Yes, this is what freaks me out the most, dude, someone has been following us, probably Chloe mostly, for God knows how long. And I worry about the consequences, a lot, but the stalker thing scares me ..”

  
Chloe gently squeezes Beca’s hand and says:  
“I agree with you, babe. Thuis man is even more crazy than I always thougth he was. We just have to hope that the board can see reason. We’ll just tell them our story and hope for the best.”

Alice wants to say something, but she feels a little out of place in the group of friends. Finally she says:  
“I don’t know exactly what consequences there will be, but if it helps, the parent committee will not just accept your dismissal, Ms Beale, and some other parents have already expressed their support too.”

Chloe smiles at Alice and says: “Thanks, Alice. And please call me Chloe.”

“So Alice, just to clarify, did he send the pictures only, or was there a message, and do you know if he sent it to the parents only, or to other people too?” Beca asks, her mind racing to try and come up with a way to solve things.

  
“Well there was an accompanying message, but that was just so nasty that I wanted to save you guys from it. But let’s just say that if you remove all words you wouldn’t use in front of your five year old, what you’d be left with is: ‘Beca is out on a mission to turn all women into lesbians, and Chloe is willing to throw herself at anyone who can help her ahead in life.’. And as far as I know, the message we got was only addressed to the parents, but I can very well imagine he sent one to the board as well.”

  
Beca sighs and turns to Chloe. “Chlo, I’m cancelling my meetings for tomorrow, and I’ll come with you. Or no, do you have the number of the school board, or principal? We can call them and explain, being proactive is good, right?”

  
Chloe puts her hands on Beca’s shoulders. “Becs, calm down.”

  
“Fuck, Chlo, how can you not be freaking out right now? I’ve seen you freak out over a whole lot of things, but now…”

  
At that moment Chloe’s phone rings.

  
“It’s the principal.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The visit to the principal's office...

Chloe had been called to the principal’s office. When she had gotten the phone call, everyone had insisted on coming, even Alice. Eventually, they had agreed that Aubrey and Jesse would bring David to school and wait for them at a nearby coffee shop. Alice had soon seen that it wouldn't help if she showed up with Chloe and Beca.

  
So here they were, Chloe was sitting in a chair, bouncing her leg, while Beca was pacing back and forth. The principal and representatives of the board were inside, and a little after nine Chloe was called in. Beca followed her into the office.

  
“Uhh, Ms Mitchell, could you wait outside, please?” The principal asked.

  
“No, I want to be here for Chloe.” Beca replies, placing her hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

  
The principal exchanges a look with the head of the board, who shrugs.

  
“Okay, Ms Mitchell, have a seat then.”

  
The principal directs his attention to Chloe again.

  
“Ms Beale, we have received some pictures of you and Ms Mitchell, in which you to show behaviour that is in disagreement with our policies. You have informed me before about the fact that you were staying with Ms Mitchell, but these pictures show a more … intimate … situation.”

  
“Yeah, that is a very recent development.” Chloe admits.

  
“So, I warned you about possible consequences, but given the circumstances, we have not yet reached an agreement with the board. Which means that you are suspended until the end of the week, until we reach an agreement.”

  
Chloe nods.

  
“Would you like to add something we should know?”

  
“Beca and I got together only this weekend, but it is definitely more than a fling. If you make me choose, I'll choose her.”

  
“What Chloe means to say is that she loves her job here, but that what we have is serious. Chloe and I have a long history. We knew about the rules, and we intended to lay low, but we had not expected to be followed to my apartment. We should have been even more discrete. When things would have been less… new, we would have informed you. I'm sorry. We hope you will see this is an exceptional situation.” Beca speaks for Chloe.

  
“Yes, about the way we received this information, we strongly condemn mr Adams’ actions. We have received a message from another mom, that she has had some unpleasant experiences with him. Have you had any previous problems with him, Ms Beale?”

  
“Well, he has always been a little… well just too much you know? Won’t take no for an answer easily, but he has always stayed within borders, until…”

  
Chloe stops and Beca looks at her. “Chlo, you’ve got to tell them..”

  
Chloe swallows and continues: “Last Friday Beca and I were at a bar, still as friends, nothing's happened until Saturday and when I made my way through the bar by myself, he, mr Adams, grabbed my wrist and… let's say he was more persistent than usual, and when I still said no, he took his homophobia out on me. It was scary, eventually he let go, because some of the other people kept looking at us.”

  
Beca squeezes Chloe's hand.

  
The woman, who is part of the board, opens her mouth for the first time.

  
“I'm so sorry to hear that, Ms Beale. It must have been hard for you. If you decide to take action against him, which I would advise, given what he has done, the board will support you. Regardless of the outcome of your suspension.”

  
Chloe nods.

  
The head of the board clears his throat and says: “Okay, unless you would still like to add something, we are done here for now. We expect you back on Friday morning to hear our decision.”

  
Chloe gets up and Beca follows her out the office.

 

  
When they get through the door, they are met by a dozen parents. 

“Ms Beale, how did it go?”

“They haven't fired you, have they?”

Numerous parents start to ask questions all at the same time.

Chloe raises her hands to silence them.

“I appreciate all your support, but I will have to wait until Friday to hear the final verdict. Until then I am suspended.”

Again there is a burst of reactions. Chloe smiles and pushes her way through. Beca is impressed by how loved Chloe is and secretly she hopes the board takes this into account. The group of parents stay, according to Alice they were going to put a word in with the principal. Two men separate themselves from the group.

“Ms Beale, Will Adams is outside, would you like us to come with you? I mean, we don't want to be belittling you, but yeah, he’s a big man and pissed off..”, one of the men asks.

“We’d appreciate it if you could accompany us to our car.”, Chloe replies.

Indeed when they walk to the car, Will is yelling at them, but the men prevent him coming too close.

 

After pulling out of the parking lot, they head to the coffee shop where Jesse and Aubrey are waiting.

  
“Chloe, are you okay?”

  
“Hmm, yeah, sort of.”

  
“I was moved by all the parents that showed up for you.”

  
“Yeah, me too” Chloe squeezes Beca’s hand.

 

They walk into the coffee shop where Jesse and Aubrey are already waiting for them. Aubrey has a stash of papers in front of her, but first they discuss the meeting shortly. After that Jesse and Beca get up to get a refill. Aubrey helps Chloe fill out the paperwork for the restraining order and promises to care of that.

 

Later that day everyone had gathered at Beca’s apartment for dinner. Beca distributes the lasagna and Chloe passes the salad around. When everyone's plate is filled, they dig in, while making light conversation.

  
“Mom, what's a lesbian?” David asks out of the blue. “Jake says Chloe can't teach us anymore, because she’s a lesbian.”

  
“Well… a lesbian is a girl who has relationships with other girls.” Beca replies a little hesitant.

  
“What's a relationship?”

  
“That's when you love someone and you stay with them.”

  
“Like Chloe is staying with us?”

  
“Yeah, actually, yes. But that's actually not why Chloe can't teach now. It's because of a rule at school, so they now need to decide what to do.”

  
“Oh okay, I love Chloe staying with us, I also hope she can come teach us again.” And with that the matter is closed for David.

The conversation steers to more general topics, until Jesse puts his fork down.

  
“There is something we need to tell you, Aubrey and I will be moving back to the States next year February. I will finish the last part of the trilogy by then, and Aubrey has enough time to have structured the European branch enough so that she can lead it from here.”

  
“Oh, we need to hurry then, I still plan on coming for a visit.”

  
“Yeah, you should really come, maybe for summer break or Christmas?”

  
“We’ll set something up, let's just wait how the entire situation plays out.”

  
They finish dinner and not long after that Jesse and Aubrey decide to call it a night, because they fly back to the UK early the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I said it before, but after this chapter there are really only two chapters left. The ending is written, just the chapter in between needs some work. Also I know nothing about restraining orders and such. I tried to research it a little, but it probably isn't really realistic... sorry for that.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, the last days before the final verdict.  
> Warning: smut ahead, I'll indicate it with **

The next morning Chloe opened her laptop to find an email from Aubrey.

  
‘Hi Chloe

  
Even though all paperwork is now taken care of, I've contacted a lawyer that can help you if needed. Her name is Julia Stevenson, we went to law school together. She'll help you with anything you need, I told her all about the situation. We also dug a little on Will Adams, turns out he works for another classmate of ours. We decided to give karma a little hand. ;)

  
Good luck to both of you, and we hope to see you soon.

  
Aubrey’

  
Chloe showed the mail to Beca who sniggered. “I like Posen more by the day.”

Beca had decided to stay home with Chloe, because she doesn't want her to be alone these days. The three of them are currently at the breakfast table. Together they get David ready for school and drop him off.

After dropping off David, Beca asks: “So what do you want to do now? We could go to a museum, shopping, running, hiking or anything you like?”

  
“Running or hiking, seriously, Beca?”

  
“Yeah, anything to keep your mind off this mess I put you in.”

  
“Hey, Beca listen to me. None of this your fault. But if you’re really willing to do physical activity to distract me, I have an idea..”

  
Chloe looks at Beca with the look of lust in her eyes.

  
“I like the way you think, Beale.”

  
Hastily they make their way to the bedroom. Their lips connect as they lie down on the bed and a fire is instant. Both girls had been yearning to touch each other again, but the circumstances had gotten in the way.

  
There is no teasing, no patience. Both girls make quick work of their clothing.

  
“Chlo, you're gorgeous, you know that?”

  
“Shut up Mitchell, you already got me out of my clothes. Just touch me already”

  
“I love it when you get all bossy on me.”

**  
Beca pushes Chloe over and straddles her. Their kisses become more heated, tongues roaming and incidental biting. Beca moves her mouth to Chloe's jaws, sucking just below her ear, grazing with her teeth, while she takes in the scent of the redhead. Chloe moans and digs her nails in Beca's shoulder blades. Beca moves down kissing between Chloe's breast and across her abs, moving on down and back up again. She pulls Chloe in for another kiss, pressing her leg against Chloe's core, while grinding down on Chloe's leg, her hands playing with the redheads breasts. Chloe's hands close around Beca's ass.

“Becs, if you continue like that I'm gonna come soon.”

  
Beca slows and relaxes on top of Chloe, her forehead resting on the other girl’s chest.

  
Chloe kisses Beca's chocolate curls. “I love the things you do to me..”

  
Beca kisses Chloe's nipple, “There are more things that I can do to you, that you'll love.” Slowly her mouth continues her exploration of Chloe's breasts. The redhead tangles her hands in the curls, while carefully watching the little brunette. When Beca uses her teeth to gently tug on her nipple Chloe lets out a moan and closes her eyes while tilting her head back. The brunette presses a line of kisses along the exposed neck, until she captures the redhead’s mouth in a fiery kiss.

  
“I could kiss you all day.”, she murmurs.

  
“Please, Becs” Chloe grunts.

  
Beca's hands have replaced her mouth on Chloe's breasts and are massaging them firmly, while Beca starts to nip and suck on Chloe's neck.

  
“Babe, you're going to leave marks.”

  
“I don't care, I want to mark you as mine.”

  
“Becs, I love the feeling of it, but not today please?”

  
“Fine.” Beca complies, because she knows why Chloe doesn't want to be marked like that and she won't enjoy it, if she worries about it.

  
Instead she moves down again, passing between her breasts and onto the sensitive areas of her abdomen.

  
“I assume you're not planning on wearing a crop top?”

  
Chloe can feel the brunette’s giggling against her skin and all she can do is produce a sound somewhere between a moan and a grunt.

  
Beca has moved her hands from Chloe's breasts to her thighs, stroking and kneading them gently. Chloe's lower body shifts, in eager anticipation of what's next. Slowly Beca kisses her thighs, avoiding that one place that Chloe wants her to touch so desperately. After more squirming by the redhead, Beca gives in and places a chaste kiss on her folds. Tasting how dripping wet Chloe is, Beca decides to put the other girl out of her sweet misery and drags her tongue through the folds a couple of times before pushing her fingers into Chloe.

  
With a few well timed curls of her fingers accompanied by tentative flicks of her tongue, Beca sends her girlfriend into an orgasm that's so intense that she feels heels digging into her back, while the redhead’s body arches off the bed. The brunette reaches up to steady it as Chloe falls on the bed, completely limb for a moment.

  
Beca moves up to lie next to her girlfriend. Gently, she strokes the red curls all spread across the pillows.

  
Chloe sighs and says: “Oh, Becs. Are you even real?”

  
“Shhs. It's all because I love you.”

  
It was true, Beca had been with a decent, possibly above average, amount of women since she came out, some short lived relationships and many one night stands, but it had never been so easy, so natural with someone as with Chloe. She knew the redhead like the back of her hand and the slightest signal was easy to pick up. ‘This must be what they call ‘making love’’, Beca thought to herself.

  
Chloe musters the power to roll onto her side, so she can kiss the brunette, running her hand along the brunette’s side. When Beca puts her arms around her, Chloe strokes her shoulder blade and lets her fingers dance along the ribs until they find Beca's breast.

  
Sensing that Chloe is still recovering slightly from the intense orgasm, Beca rolls onto her back, using the momentum to pull the other girl on top of her. She pushes the red curls behind her ears and kisses the redhead on the lips and her fingers slowly wander down her spine. Her other hand is linked with Chloe's.

  
They play like this for a while, until Chloe starts to move her lips along Beca’s jaw, moving down, until she reaches one of the brunette’s nipples. Her hand slides further down between them, down across Beca's thighs and up along the inside where she can already feel Beca's wetness. Without further hesitation she presses two fingers inside the brunette, steadily picking up a rhythm. She senses how close the petite woman below her is and pulls her fingers back. Beca wants to protest, but then she feels Chloe's mouth on her centre.

  
Chloe was dying to taste Beca, so when she noticed how close Beca was, she decided to replace her fingers with her mouth. The first stroke of her tongue was hesitant, but when she felt Beca's hands in her hair, her movements became more deliberate. It didn't take long for the younger girl to reach her peak and come crashing down. Beca gasps and now it's Chloe's turn to softly stroke her girlfriend.

**  
After spending the morning together in bed, Beca announces that she's hungry and proposes they go out for a late lunch. Beca heads for the shower, leaving her girl in bed. When Chloe hears Titanium, she can't resist and barges into the brunette's shower again, this time with a slightly different ending.

  
Eventually they managed to get out and head to a café not to far from the apartment. As they walk Chloe grabs Beca’s hand.

  
“You totally did that on purpose..”

  
“What?” Beca fakes innocence.

  
“Like you don't know”, and Chloe kisses the brunette's cheek.

 

\--  
That evening when the two of them have settled on the couch Chloe says:

  
“Becs, you don't have to stay with me tomorrow. I will be fine by myself, and you've got your job. I have some stuff to do anyway. Maybe Thursday you could take the afternoon off and help me with some things?”

  
“Plans without me? Should I be worried?” Beca jokes.

  
“No, not at all. A colleague wants to take over the lease on my apartment as soon as possible, so I need to sort through my stuff.”

  
“Really? That's great. I mean, I love you moving in here, but don't rush it. I mean if there's stuff you don't know what to do with, just box it, we've got the spare room and a unit in the garage downstairs.”

  
“I'm sure it will be fine, Beca. I have a colleague who wants to take over the apartment and she wants some of the furniture as well, so that's easy, just some pieces that I want to keep and all my personal stuff.”

  
\--

That Thursday Beca pulls up at Chloe's apartment in a truck she managed to borrow from one of her employees. Upstairs she finds Chloe in a mess of boxes and larger objects.

  
“Becs, I'm glad you're here. I need your help deciding. These boxes definitely need to come, as well these suitcases with my clothes. But this over here” Chloe gestures to the rest of the stuff, “I don't know..”

  
The small brunette takes a moment to look at the stuff.

  
“Okay, these boxes, let's see what's in them.”

  
Beca folds back the flaps of a couple of them.

  
“Okay, this is your grandma’s dining set, we’ll keep this, and these are some books and DVDs, we can keep those too.. These are … sheets and towels, we don't need those, but if you're attached to them?”

  
“No, that’s fine, they're pretty old anyway. Let's get rid of them.”

  
Beca continues to sort through the items helping Chloe pick what to keep, until all that's left is a rocking chair.

  
“Okay.. This rocking chair. We should definitely keep it. It would look great in the nursery.” Beca says it without giving it too much thought.

  
“A… a nursery?”

  
“Uh, yeah, I .. uh… I thought..” Beca stammers. “I didn't mean… I don't want to go to fast, I just thought one day..you’d want… you said you wanted… you know, when you..”

  
Chloe quickly kisses her panicking girlfriend. “Beca, it's fine, of course, I want that. I was just surprised. It's all new to me. I've never been as serious about someone as I am about you, but I'm still getting used to it.”

  
“I understand. I need to think before I speak, still learning that..”

  
Chloe pulls Beca close and they just stand there, holding each other.

  
“Don't ever change, you’re perfect.”

  
The girls load Chloe's stuff onto the truck and head to Beca's apartment. After bringing up all the stuff Beca says:

  
“I'm going to get David, if you want to start unpacking, feel free to make room for your stuff wherever.”

  
\--

That night Beca and Chloe sat down with David to explain everything, as much as he could understand. Beca turned off the tv and put David between them.

  
“David, as you know a lot has been going on lately. I don't know how much you already made sense of on your own and I understand you have a lot of questions. Feel free to ask anything alright? I'll try to explain things as good as I can…”

David nods and looks at Beca expectantly, after casting a quick glance at Chloe.

  
“Chloe has been staying with us, because she was my friend, but recently I told Chloe that I love her, and she loves me back, so we decided to become girlfriends. Do you know what that means?”

  
“Yeah, you two are together now, like Jesse and Aubrey?”

  
“Yeah, exactly. Also Chloe will come to live with us from now on, officially.”

  
“So she won't go back to her own apartment?”

  
“No, this will be her apartment from now on, like it is yours and mine.”

  
“So, no sleepovers with Chloe then?” David is slightly disappointed.

  
“No, I'm sorry, but she'll be here with us, isn't that better?”

  
“Yeah, I guess so, but I like sleep adventures.”

  
Beca grins. “Okay, maybe the three of us can go have a sleepover somewhere when it's the holidays.”

  
Beca is contemplating how to continue, but David asks:

  
“Does it mean that Chloe is now really my mom?”

  
“Would you like that?”

  
“I always wanted that.. She's nice.” David smiles from ear to ear.

  
“Why don't you ask her?”

  
“Chloe, will you be my mom?”

  
“I would love to be your other mom, David.” Chloe kisses the boy on the head.

  
Beca looks over and captures Chloe's eyes for a moment, giving her a loving smile.

  
“Moms,” David giggles, “I'm really happy.”

  
“David, I'm glad that you're as happy as we are with things. But you must know that the school isn't as happy for us, because they have a rule against parents and teachers being too close. So that is why Chloe couldn't teach this week. Tomorrow we will hear whether Chloe can stay at the school. But I want you to know, whatever happens we will always stick together, okay?”

  
David nods, giving both his moms a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone who skipped the smut: this is a paragraph that's kind of relevant and was in the middle of it.
> 
> 'It was true, Beca had been with a decent, possibly above average, amount of women since she came out, some short lived relationships and many one night stands, but it had never been so easy, so natural with someone as with Chloe. She knew the redhead like the back of her hand and the slightest signal was easy to pick up. ‘This must be what they call ‘making love’’, Beca thought to herself.'
> 
> ==
> 
> So, after this there is truly only one chapter left to this story, which is the story of how they met. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also there will be a sequel, like I said it will be more a collection of short stories on how their relationship progresses, like meeting up with some of the Bellas, meeting the in-laws, etc. If there is anything you'd like to see in that, please let me know and maybe I'll put it in.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here it finally is, the final chapter of this work...
> 
> Will Chloe keep her job?

Friday had come around and Beca and Chloe are outside the principals office again. When they are called in only the principal and the head of the board are there.

  
“Ms Beale, Ms Mitchell, the board and I have had a long discussion of your situation, we have discussed our own points of view, as well as some input that was given by the parents of your class. After careful consideration we have decided that your suspension will be lifted and that you can stay. Also it has lead to a reconsideration of the rules, we won't restrict the interaction of staff members with parents as much as we have in the past, as long as it doesn't cloud your judgement here at school.”

  
“Thank you”

  
“But…” the principal continues, “there are some consequences. Due to practicalities it is not possible to do it now, but after Summer break David will be moved to the other class, so that he will no longer be taught by you. Until then I will be involved in the evaluation of his progress, just to exclude any rumours of you playing favourites. I hope you can agree with these measures, you are a good teacher and I am glad we can solve our situation like this.”

“Yes, that's okay. I am happy I can stay.”

“Good, we'll see you on Monday then.”

Outside the office Chloe pulls Beca in for a big hug and a quick kiss.

  
As they exit the building, they see Alice waiting for them amongst a group of other parents.

  
“So I guess it worked then?

  
“What worked?”

  
“I reminded them how bad it would look for the school if they fired Chloe for being in a relationship with a woman.”

  
“Oh, that’s a good one, but I prefer to think that they bent the rules because Chloe is so great at her job.” Beca says with a goofy smile that makes Chloe's knees weak. “But it was a good one, I must say. If I ever need someone for my legal department…” Beca adds with a wink.

  
They continue to their car and after getting in it, they share a long and passionate kiss. When Beca pulls out of the parking lot, Chloe sends Aubrey a quick text to let her know the outcome. A minute later Chloe's phone rings and Beca can hear Aubrey’s excited voice without Chloe putting it on speaker.

  
After the redhead has hung up, Beca says: “I think today calls for a celebratory dinner. What would you like? I know this great restaurant…”

  
“I would like to have pizza tonight.”

  
“Pizza?” Beca asks surprised.

  
“Yeah, I have some very fond memories of a certain pizza dinner and it's David’s favourite.”

  
“You sure?”

  
“Yeah, I want to celebrate with you guys in a way we can all enjoy.”

  
Beca smiles. “Okay, but where going out to a proper pizzeria to make a special night.”

 

Later that day Beca goes to pick up David by herself. Although it is a 20 minute walk, she decides the weather is nice enough and walks to school. She get there a little early and waits amongst the other parents. Some come up to her to congratulate her and Chloe and state how happy they are that Chloe will be staying. Beca thanks them politely, not wanting to go into details with these people she hardly knows. Luckily she is saved by the bell and soon the kids come pouring out of the building.

  
David comes running towards her and Beca gets down to hug him.

  
“Hey there, my man. How was school today?”

  
“Well, it was okay. Jake is leaving our school, he and his dad are going to move. He says his dad needs to move for his job. So we said goodbye to him today. And the sub is also leaving. So is Chloe coming back?”

  
“Yep, she'll be back by Monday.”

  
Beca takes his hand and says: “I walked here, let's get going.”

  
Halfway home they pass a florist on the street corner. The brunette can’t help herself and before she knows it, she has bought a giant bouquet of red, pink and white roses. For the rest of the way home she struggles with the flowers and she's glad they finally reach the apartment.

  
When she comes into the kitchen she finds a note from Chloe to let her know she went for a quick run. Wanting to give her girl the flowers properly, she puts them in a vase with a layer of water and hides them in the spare room. In the meantime she changes herself and David into something nice to wear. Nothing too fancy, it’s a proper Italian pizzeria, not a gourmet restaurant after all, but Beca just wants to look nice for Chloe.

  
Not much later Chloe comes back, Beca and David are in the living room, but Chloe calls out that she's going to shower first. When she hears the water running, Beca gets the bouquet into the living room and waits for Chloe. Some fifteen minutes later Chloe comes back, wearing a black and white dress, and Beca just gapes at her.

  
“Wow, you look stunning, I swear you get more gorgeous every time.”

  
“Thanks, you look wonderful yourself.”

  
Beca is confused when Chloe keeps looking at her expectingly, until she feel a small hand tugging at her arm.

  
“Mom, the flowers..” David hisses.

  
The brunette snaps back into reality and looks at the bouquet in her hands for a second, before handing it to Chloe.  
“To our friendship, our love and new beginnings.”

  
Still getting used to the new found intimacy with Beca in front of others, especially David, Chloe kisses Beca on the cheek and whispers in her ear: “Thank you, they're perfect. You're perfect.”

  
Beca feels Chloe's breath hot on her skin and her breath hitches.

  
“Okay, let's head out.” Beca says as Chloe pulls back.

  
Chloe quickly puts the flowers in a vase to keep them fresh, but then they are ready to leave. The pizzeria isn't far from the apartment, so they walk there.

 

The dinner is a quiet one between the two girls, and all night they sit and glance at each other and touch each other. David is the one who keeps the conversation going. As the evening grows later, David becomes more quiet and Chloe asks a question that has been on her mind all day.

  
“Becs, do you think that they only kept me because of what Alice said?”

  
“Nah, I don't think so. If that would have been the case, they would have given you restrictions that would have made it hard for you to stay, so that you would leave on you own account. But with the boundaries they've set now, it is possible to be David’s other parent. So I think they had your interest in mind as well.”

Chloe seems content with the answer and smiles at her girlfriend.

 

The evening comes to a close a they leave the restaurant with David between them. Out on the sidewalk Beca can't help herself and she reaches over to Chloe, whispering “I love you” and kisses her.

  
“Eww” David says.

  
Both women laugh at him. Beca picks him up and Chloe says: “Aww, we love you too.”, and they kiss him on his cheeks. 

David wriggles himself loose and Beca puts him down. He wipes his cheeks. “Yeah, I love both of you too.” and he skips ahead.

  
Chloe links her hand with Beca's and they follow him.

  
“I love you too. So much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was it. Of course it's a super happy end. Thanks to all my readers!
> 
> Thanks for all the requests/input for the sequel so far. Quite some stuff that I hadn't thought of yet. I'll start putting together an outline soonish, but if you'd like to add feel free. 
> 
> One thing this fic seriously lacked was a clear timeline. In retrospect there must be Christmas etc. in the period that this fic spans, but didn't put it in. Well, lets say I'm learning. But that's why I want to take some time to prepare that. So don't expect the sequel for a couple of months. I might put some unrelated short stuff out, but first, let's see how things in the real world go for me...

**Author's Note:**

> So, what do you guys think?


End file.
